If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, you still can. The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases reports that influenza (flu) vaccine is readily available this year.
Most family and internal medicine physicians have supplies of vaccine. When you go to your A&M System health plan provider for your flu shot, you should pay only your normal office visit copayment. The Scott & White Clinic in College Station is offering flu shots for one month beginning Oct. 17. Scott & White members can receive the shot at no cost. Many grocery stores also offer flu shots.
So plenty of shots are available, but maybe you’re still not sure if you really need to be protected from the flu. If that’s the case, consider this…
A survey recently released by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that only 48 percent of the 1,014 adults surveyed plan to get vaccinated against the flu. Why so few? Forty-six percent thought the flu vaccination could cause the flu and 43% don't think the flu is serious enough to be vaccinated against.
But facts tell a different story. The flu vaccine is made from dead flu virus, hence it cannot cause the flu, and the nose spray vaccination now available is made from such a weakened virus that it is rare that someone would contract the disease. In addition, the flu is responsible for 36,000 deaths annually in America and for 200,000 hospitalizations.
If you’re still undecided if the flu shot is right for you, ask your
health care provider. Remember, the shot may mean the difference between
staying healthy or being miserably sick. 