I'm Healthy, Why Should I Get the Flu Vaccine?

Getting your annual flu shot will not only help keep you healthy and prevent you from getting sick, but your family and friends too. You need a flu shot every fall because the virus changes from year to year. Any immunity you may have built up from last year may not protect you from the influenza virus that is making people sick this year.

When you protect yourself from influenza by getting the flu vaccine you will reduce your chance of becoming ill missing time from work as well as with family and friends. If we each consider the different things we touch in a day it will give us a better idea of our chances to carry the virus and not even know it. The flu virus can live on surfaces for an unknown period of time.

Health care and emergency workers have an increased opportunity to spread or carry the influenza virus.  It is important that they get the seasonal flu shot to protect themselves, the people they work with and the community they serve. 

Here are some basic facts about how the flu vaccine works:

• It takes about two weeks for the flu vaccine to build protection in your body.
• The flu vaccine does not cause the flu.
• No vaccine protects you 100% from disease.  Even if you get the flu vaccine, there is still a chance you may get the flu.  But, if you have had the vaccine, the symptoms should be much milder.
• The vaccine does not protect against colds or other illnesses that have symptoms like influenza.

The flu is much worse than a cold. Even very healthy people can become quite ill. If you get infected with influenza, you might bring the virus home to someone who is not healthy or is at high risk like a baby, an older relative or someone with a medical condition. They may become very sick and have a difficult time recovering from the illness. They may also develop very serious complications from the flu.

"You and the Flu"...Watch a short video on how the flu vaccine is created and how it helps you and your family stays flu free.