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Personal confession, I used to not get an annual flu shot. The last time before I got my recent flu shot was when I was pregnant with my second child. I hate needles, I really don’t like it. But truthfully, nobody likes it anyway so what’s the exception of making that as a reason not to get a flu shot. With everything that has been going on, it’s a wake-up call for me to get a flu shot. This pandemic can be overwhelming and scary for all of us. Getting ourselves and our children a flu shot is one step we can take now to protect them from a serious disease.

So why is it important to get a flu vaccination? In addition to preventing the flu, here are five benefits to getting a flu shot:

1. Flu vaccinations help keep you and your loved ones out of the doctor’s office and out of the hospital. The vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of having to go to the doctor due to the flu by 40 to 60 percent. It also reduced children’s risk of flu-related pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission by 74 percent during flu seasons from 2010-2012. In recent years, flu vaccines have reduced the risk of flu hospitalizations among adults by 40 percent. It also reduces the risk of adults getting admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) as well. 
2. If you do get sick with the flu, flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce its severity. There are studies that show that among adults hospitalized with flu, vaccinated patients were 59 percent less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit than those who had not been vaccinated. They also stayed lesser days in the hospital as compared to those who were not vaccinated.
3. Flu vaccination can save children’s lives. It significantly reduces a child’s risk of dying from the flu.
4. Flu vaccination helps protect women during and after pregnancy. It reduces the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection in pregnant women by up to one-half. It also reduces the chance of getting hospitalized due to the flu. Other than that, it also protects the baby from flu infection for several months after birth, when he or she is not old enough to be vaccinated.
5. Flu vaccination helps prevent the flu in people with chronic health conditions. Vaccination has been associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who had a cardiac event in the past year. 

Vaccines are safe, effective and help protect everyone. As a parent, it protects our children and teens from 16 up vaccine-preventable diseases-including HPV, which can cause six types of cancer. There has been a lot of debate about it and that may also include misinformation about vaccines. That’s why it’s so important to do our research and also share our personal stories about why we vaccinate. There is so much information on the internet about vaccinations that sometimes can be overwhelming and scary. I think that’s normal, it’s okay to have many questions. But we just have to make sure we are getting answers from credible sources. Before, I was so confused about what to do that we decided to skip the flu shot, but now we decided to go for it. The risk of getting the flu outweighs more than getting a flu shot. Like I said, get some information and clarity from credible resources. As for other types of vaccination, we are all covered. I would also like to point out that a flu shot cannot cause the flu. Most people experience no side effects from the flu shot. I personally don’t, but there are common side effects that other people are experiencing like soreness, redness, tenderness or swelling where the shot is given. It is important to get a flu shot as soon as possible because it takes up to two weeks after you get the flu shot for your body to build up enough immunity to prevent the flu, so Michigan residents should get vaccinated now to protect themselves before flu activity increases in Michigan. There are currently ample supply of flu vaccines available at many locations throughout Michigan, including doctor’s offices, pharmacies and local health departments.

For more information about flu vaccination and where to schedule an appointment go to www.michigan.gov/flu . 

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you find it helpful for you and your loved ones.