remember it takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to maximize your bodies immune response, so if the flu hits early and it is bad this year…you may get the shot and wind up with the flu because you got exposed to the flu on Tuesday and get the shot 2 days later and it was already incubating and it is to late. or their is an unseen surge in people getting the vaccine if the flu is like the H1N1 5-6 years ago and there is a shortage or long wait in your area so you miss the vaccine window for the year and wind up with the flu. the early bird gets the worm. and a vaccine in the middle of September is not going to be less effective than one in October.(2 weeks later that is silly) go asap in my opinion.
I never got the flu shot until they started giving it for free at work. I don’t often react odd to shots (except the TB shot) but since I’ve had the flu once (got the Hong Kong flu in Hong Kong in the late 60’s) I never ever want to get it again or have anyone I know get it. I’m wonder if sometimes people confuse common viruses that make you feel bad w/ the flu - or maybe there is that big a variety in how the flu affects people or the type of flu, but if you ever get the Hong Kong flu (whatever kind that was) you will be wishing it would kill you because you are sooooooo sick. I make my adult children get shot and the don’t argue. I do feel bad for those that can’t get immunizations and have to be exposed.
threeofthree
I had the flu one time (flu… not a bad cold) holy moly…I never ever ever want to do that again. I would crawl threw a mine field to get my flu vaccine.I just hope they got the correct strains in the vaccine this year.
I think a lot of people think they have had the flu who have not really had it.
emilybee I agree I hear people use the term flu all the time for a cold. I had the flu just once…aching joints with the chills drenched in sweat followed by burning up and your eyes can not open and your head feels like it was going to melt .than back to aching bones and chills and all the other fun stuff. before that time I thought flu shots were for old people and people with chronic conditions. now I have taken on a religious fanaticism about flu vaccines.
I used to get the flu every. single. year. I still sometimes get it even with the flu shot, particularly years like last year when they don’t get the strains quite right—I’m particularly susceptible, apparently—but at least even when they don’t match up it’s a shorter/less intense bout of it. (For example, last year I was only out of commission for 4 or 5 days, rather than the couple weeks that used to be my norm.)
So even if you get the flu, in my experience having gotten the shot is still worth it.
My D2 got it 2 years in a row in elementary school, and gave it to me both times. We all get shots every year now. But there were no shots for H1N1… and D2 got it, and gave it to me. 
Not to discourage anyone (really, get it done!), but I am very good at relaxing my arm, but it hurt a lot for a couple days this year. Much more than past years.
I had that really bad H1N1 a few years ago. There was a point at it’s worst where I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to make it through, and I didn’t really care either way. THAT’S when you know it’s really bad.
I never want to feel that way again, and if getting my flu shot helps me avoid it, I will gladly stand in line and pay my $20.
intparent the last two times I got my flu shot had I not watched the needle go into my arm and see the injection given I would not have known I got it. and I had zero pain…and not even a drop of blood after. the tetanus shot hurts like a bad punch in the arm a day later and that lasted a couple of days.
^that is my usual experience, too. Maybe it was the person administering this year…
I agree with those who say that the ones who don’t feel the need to get the flu shot have never had the flu (even if they thought they did…) I had the flu in December when I was pregnant. I missed Christmas entirely - I was that out of it. It wasn’t that I felt like I was going to die - I actually WISHED that I would die! I’ve only been that sick one other time when I had pneumonia. I don’t want to feel that bad ever again. I get a flu shot without fail every year.
BTW - I got mine at Target this year. They has the quadrivalent shot and my insurance covered the entire cost.
I got lucky this year. My CVS still had the quadrivalent flu vaccine in stock, not just the trivalent. Four is better than three.
I went to my doctor to get meds temporarily for the anxiety I’ve been going through, and the nurse asked if I wanted the flu shot, too. Sure! So I’m all set. 
also this is interesting too…
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20151005/flu-vaccine-may-also-protect-against-pneumonia
My arm hurt for a few days this year after getting the shot.
I used to get at least two colds every year - one in late fall and one in early spring. Since getting a flu shot I haven’t gotten any colds. Maybe just coincidence but it’s been about 10 years.
I will get a free flu shot at work next week. And my boss is so good at injections, it hardly hurts at all.
Just got my this morning. It’s a requirement for where I work (health care). Best shot I’ve ever received - didn’t feel a thing!
Flu has come early to Connecticut, so I got my shot last week at CVS Minute Clinic. I had a little localized soreness the following day, more than some years but less than other years.