When it comes to vaccines in this highly controversial time with the anti-vax movement, it’s crucial to make sure you are educated and up to date with the correct information.

Let’s get down to the bottom line. The anti-vaxxers were born out of a dumb claim by a playboy model that vaccines cause autism due to the false myth promoted by now discredited British doctor Andrew Wakefield. The idea that vaccines cause autism has since been disproven, his studies have been retracted, and he has admitted to fabricating his study. But unfortunately, the damage has been done. Because we live in a society that still has flat Earth believers, it has now grown to include people who believe in this claim that vaccines cause autism and led to the anti-vax movement of today. It’s a very dangerous movement that risks the regression of modern medicine and is risking the health and welfare of future generations. But I’m not here to argue this with you. If you’re here and understand the importance of vaccines, then you’re already winning for not being an absolute moron.

So how do vaccines work? Simply put, as per the CDC, vaccines contain the same bacteria or viruses that cause the corresponding disease state. (I.e. the measles vaccine contains measles virus.) Some vaccines contain only a part of the disease germ. But they have been either killed or weakened to the point that they don’t make you sick. A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first. That way if you do get exposed to the disease later on, your body has a fighting chance because it already has a headstart having that prior exposure and experience fighting it off. This is what makes vaccines such powerful medicine. Unlike most medicines, which treat or cure diseases, vaccines prevent them.

The problem with the flu is that it is a virus that mutates from year to year, as well as having many different strains that circulate every year. A flu vaccine is made to protect against the three or four flu viruses that research suggests will be most common. Which is why a flu vaccine is recommended every year. And unfortunately, it is not 100% foolproof. Just because you got the flu shot this year, does not necessarily mean you are safe from the flu completely. You can still get it because you may catch a different strain that the ones predicted and covered in the vaccine. But I would still highly recommend getting the vaccine because think about it, it’s like driving a car. You get in the car, knowing there are dangers on the road, but you put on your seatbelt and still take as many precautions as possible to avoid those dangers. Some things are obviously out of our control but if you could do one thing, just ONE thing to decrease the chances, wouldn’t you take it? Especially if you are in a high risk group that is prone to getting sick, and immunocompromised. Some people get sick and get over it in a few days, and some people get sick and are hospitalized for weeks. The flu is that roll of the dice. The vaccine helps to prevent tens of thousands of hospitalizations a year.

The flu vaccine is also widely covered by most insurances at no cost to you, and in some communities, is offered for free at health fairs and flu shot clinics. And with the expansion of immunization administration by pharmacists, you can get it at your local pharmacy instead of having to make an appointment and wait hours at your doctor’s office. It’s become that easy and convenient to get it. You can literally call up your local pharmacy and walk in to receive it that day with very little wait. I’ve also found through multiple colleagues, friends and families experiences that pharmacists do a better job at administering vaccines compared to other healthcare professionals, hahaha. When I used to work retail, I had a lot of customers come back year after year, since the first year we were allowed to administer vaccines, claiming they’d rather get their vaccines from the pharmacy because we were a gentler touch. I don’t know how to explain it but they would come back year after year, saying we didn’t hurt them as much as their doctor’s office. But I’ve also heard the opposite, so honestly I will say it does depend on who’s giving it as well. So if you’re a first time flu shot recipient, my advice to you would be ask your friends and family about their experience and see if they have a pharmacy and a pharmacist they prefer. It’s the same as when you’re looking for a new doctor. You want someone good so you follow the reviews. Hahaha, one day there will probably be a website that rates your pharmacist or healthcare professional on vaccine administration care, like ratemyprofessor.com

The flu vaccine is available in stores and hospitals as soon as August, when we receive shipments of the upcoming season’s updated vaccine. Peak of the season usually occurs around January in recent years, but you should get the vaccine as early as you can. It takes up to 2 weeks for your body to develop antibodies but once you have it, the antibodies provide protection for the entire flu season. I definitely highly recommend this vaccine during the nature of this year’s pandemic because it can definitely help to narrow down diagnoses and rule out certain things if you do get sick.

I hate to use this argument too but remember when you were a kid and your parents yelled at you for not finishing your dinner because “there are starving children in Africa”? Well the same applies here. We live in a society where this resource is available to us, at very little cost and yet we underutilize it while other countries are in dire need of vaccines but no means to pay for them, receive them, nor administer them once received. We should not underscore how medically developed we are and take it for granted. We have the resources to advance and protect our health. Now is not the time to ignore it or pass it by. If not for your health, at least for the sake of others. Getting vaccinated also helps protect the ones you love from contracting anything from you. Be safe. Be responsible. Be healthy.