Winter Is Coming

Fall has returned to Oregon, and with it, the impending gloom of flu season. All the usual fall signs are appearing on store billboards announcing the arrival of vaccines. There is also an updated COVID vaccine available.

As young, healthy college students, many of you must wonder why you would need to roll your sleeve up and take the poke. Too much misinformation has intertwined itself into the conversation, spreading fear and lies about a process that has been proven to work. So much so, that many serious diseases were wiped off the face of our country. Only now, with confidence in vaccines waning due to social media based deniers, those diseases are returning again. 

You are 60% less likely to get the flu, with a seasonal flu shot. If you do get a flu, it will most likely be a mild case. Since influenza sends thousands of people to the hospital and is a miserable thing to get, why would you take your chances?

College students are around a lot of people. And during the winter holidays, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are far more likely chances to spread the flu, or COVID. Do you want to be the culprit that gave grandma, or your baby niece, COVID that sent her to the hospital?

You can get the COVID vaccine and the influenza vaccine at the same time. Get one on each arm. If you are really scared of needles, there is a flu nasal spray that you can get instead.

Another angle to consider: It’s not you, it’s me. I am undergoing treatment for cancer. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me. The treatments kill my healthy white blood cells that fight off dangerous pathogens. 

By you getting vaccinated, you are protecting me – plus thousands more immune-compromised individuals you may contact – and infants under 6 months who can’t get safely vaccinated.

As for misinformation, the doctor who most loudly said that vaccines cause autism some years ago isn’t a doctor anymore. He changed the information of his study to show what he wanted, got in trouble for it and lost his license to practice medicine. This is a controversy that should be banished from our consideration..

Another reason people don’t get the flu is that they say it makes them sick. This is most likely because your body is doing its job. It’s making antibodies against the dead flu virus in the shot. Yes, sometimes this reaction includes fever and muscle aches – but it is not the flu. It does take two weeks for your body to be fully able to fight the illness (the vaccine to take full effect), so it is possible to get sick within those two weeks.

 There are also many types and subtypes of influenza viruses. Only three make it into the shot each year. Therefore, it is possible to still get sick from a flu. Regardless, there is evidence that getting the flu shot every year helps your body fight against an infection, whatever the type.

Where can you get your flu shot? Check with your family doctor. Sometimes you don’t even have to see the doctor. 

Check with the medical office staff to see what other vaccines you should be getting as an adult. Also keep in mind that if you plan to transfer to a university, many of them require updated immunizations. Pharmacies, many located in grocery/retail stores, give them as well. Most insurance companies cover vaccines because it prevents serious disease and complications, which means they save money in the long run and so do you.

Angelique Cervantes