If you want to remain healthy and do right by the people you live with, work with and share society with – then getting your flu vaccination or ‘shot’ is a responsible course of action. Unfortunately, many people debate the need to get their shot because they feel it may not be necessary, that they won’t get sick or that there is something about the shot they should fear.
Let’s take a look at 4 critical reasons why you need to get your flu vaccination in spite of whatever reservations you may have. If you have any concerns about the safety of the immunisation shot for your children, speak to a doctor and get the facts directly from them.
1. Stay healthy and avoid infection
Of course, the primarily utility of getting your flu vaccination is that you will be immunized against the strain of influenza that doctors want to protect the community against. It works by introducing a dead cell of the virus to your white blood cells so that they know what to look for if you do get exposed to the big bag virus that’s going around.
Staying healthy is obviously its own reward and you wouldn’t want to get a nasty virus if you can avoid it. Keep in mind; influenza is not just a minor nuisance but can range from severe symptoms to fever and even death in some extreme cases. Don’t underestimate it!
2. Stay at work
While you might think taking time off work is a benefit of not getting your flu vaccination, it’s not fun to be stuck in bed with influenza. It really is a terrible virus and you would much rather be at your job labouring than at home with a fever, sore throat and headache.
Taking time off work is never good, and you should keep your sick days for when you are unavoidably ill and simply can’t work (or if there’s a worry you will spread the illness to co-workers). The simple truth is that, the more sick days you take – the less reliable your superiors will see you and it may affect your job security.
3. Protecting your family, friends and the rest of society
If your own health and wellbeing isn’t enough of a motivator for you to get your flu vaccination, then think about the health and wellbeing of those around you. If you aren’t immunised, it means that you are a risk to everyone around you as you can be infected and spread the virus around.
The main benefit of flu vaccinations is that they create what is called ‘herd immunity’. This is when a large percentage of the population is immunised against a virus so that they indirectly protect those within the population who are not immunised.
4. Avoiding waiting times
The sooner you get your flu vaccination, the less hassle it will be to get it later. Rather than wait for the rush when doctors are overwhelmed, get in early and get it out of the way so you don’t have to think about it until next year.
Spend the time you save doing something else. Since you know its necessary, it is best to get the flu vaccination as soon as you can so that you can live stress free.
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