{"id":40136,"date":"2021-09-20T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T13:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=40136"},"modified":"2021-09-14T11:38:30","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T15:38:30","slug":"flu-shot-every-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/flu-shot-every-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I get the flu shot every year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though I\u2019ve lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than four decades, I used to skip the annual flu shot. It wasn\u2019t due to a fear of needles. I\u2019ve administered countless daily insulin injections and fingersticks to check blood glucose levels. Refusing the flu vaccine was one small way to say no to yet another puncture.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, I always made sure my two young children received their annual flu vaccines every fall. They were in school, after all, and more likely to pick up illness from their peers. Meanwhile, I worked from home and rarely interacted with other people.<\/span><\/p>\n

One year, my 10-year-old asked me if I got a flu shot. He bitterly protested the jab each year, and figured if he had to deal with his discomfort, then so should I\u2014regardless of whatever other injections I had to endure. He had a point, and it wasn\u2019t just at the tip of a needle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have a chronic illness? You can get sicker from the flu<\/span><\/h2>\n

From that flu season on, I agreed to get a flu shot at my annual primary care physician\u2019s visit. As it turns out, people with all sorts of <\/span>chronic illness<\/span><\/a> should get annual flu shots, including those living with:<\/span><\/p>\n