It sounds like ignorance is the top reason for avoiding the shot.

I think it's time to make getting a flu shot a 'social responsibility.'  Don't these people realize they could be the misfortunate link to a child dying from the flu?

I had the flu in early December. I was sick for 2 weeks and then it developed into pneumonia. I'm better now but after reading this article, I am going to go get a flu shot to protect myself against idiots like the people profiled here. I don't have any vacation time left from work and cannot afford the chance that the flu I already had was a different strain.

To the people who trust the advice of their six-year olds or a random poll on Facebook: The flu vaccine works like this: it injects your body with dead copies of the flu virus. The body reacts to the dead virus by manufacturing antibodies as if you actually had the flu. Over the course of a couple of weeks, you body builds up this defense, but the virus from the injection never replicates, so it's like a false alarm and you do not get sick. But the antibodies remain in your system. So when you do encounter the actual, live virus from touching some dried snot-encrusted pole on the T and then rubbing your eyes or eating potato chips from a bag, your body is ready to fight it off and quickly attacks and destroys the virus.

Yes, you could still get sick if you encounter a different strain of virus. But getting the shot has no downside and reduces your chances of getting sick, so unless you have a specific medical reason (e.g. allergies) to avoid the shot, you should get it. During my illness, I also developed an alergy to penicillin, so now I have to take different types of antibiotics if I get sick in the future. Thanks, flu.

What about social responsibility to other people? The flu shot protects your own health, but also that of others in our communities who are more vulnerable. How can this need to show up for others just be swept aside? The history of the plagues of the Middle Ages are quite interesting to read about. Devoid of medical knowledge, so many stories were created as to where the diseases came from, how they were spread, how to treat them, what it all meant, etc. Unfortunately, some of the ideas expressed in this article, and others I have read, don't sound too far off of the thinking during the medieval ages. Just saying. :)

The Globe should do a survey of sorts to see who exactly is not getting the shot and why.  Is there a class or education or racial component for example?  Those groups with high levels of not getting the shot could be targeted for education or advertising.  It affects us all, not just the folks who refuse to get the shot!

Maybe earlier exposure to an earlier flu dropped their IQ's!

I am 60 and have never received the flu shot and have never had the flu. What wasn't mentioned in the article is the mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and other toxic ingredients that are in the shot. The more people are educated about the lack of effectiveness of the vaccine and the chemicals that are being injected into you, the more likely they are to abstain. 

Give me a break.  Could we have a little less bias here?  I feel like this was written by the mayor's office.

"Many Bostonians think they know better." You couldn't write a more elitist, condescending, snarky line if someone paid you. I've never had a flu shot and never will...not even if the almighty Globe lectures me that I should.

I believe that the major problem folks have with the Flu Vaccine is that it's delivered by injection. Just afraid of needles. All the high-flown B.S. is just camoflage to hide that fact.

With preservative, latex & MERCURY(Thimerosol) free Flu shots now more widely available, it's an easier "choice."

Aside from allergies or other documented contraindications, there is simply NO legitimate excuse for not getting vaccinated against the flu. Influenza vaccines do not cause flu. During flu season, several other viruses (non-influenza) are co-circulating, in addition to the specific viruses that the vaccines are designed to protect against. Also, there is variability from year to year as to the vaccines' effectiveness. These are the 2 primary reasons that someone who has been vaccinated, may still become "sick". It's also entirely possible to be exposed to the flu virus during the 2 weeks after vaccination; before your immune system has a chance to fully respond to the vaccine. For those who buy into the "myth" of thimerisol, and other preservatives leading to illness down the road... Not only has there never been an ounce of legitimate data showing "cause and effect", but there are also several preservative-free versions of influenza vaccine to choose from. Problem solved! Lastly, for those who are needle-phobic, there's a version of the vaccine that is administered as an intranasal spray - Flumist. It's for healthy people between 2-49 years of age, and has actually been proven to be more effective in kids than the shot. It's also entirely preservative-free. When you consider that it's primarily healthy teens thru young adults (<50) that are most reluctant to get vaccinated, the mist seems like the ultimate solution. Influenza is a Public Health issue - much more than an individual choice. We make sure people know how to drive before we hand them the keys to the car and a license to drive. It protects the driver, as well as others on the road. Why shouldn't we do more to protect society against a largely preventable disease like influenza?

After repeatedly succumbing to the flu each year, I began regular annual inoculations several years ago. I have NOT succumbed to the flu since then.

 Those people are fools, plain and simple.

I usually avoid the columns, radio interviews and TV spots that emphasize the naysayers on any given issue. The media knows it sells to put the blathering, foolish people front and center. When is the last or first time you saw a TV spot interviewing the people who got flu shots and did NOT get the flu? I gave in today but mostly for the Comments. BeeKay43 says it best below. I can only add that the % of effectiveness is increased in all age groups if your immune system is in overall good condition. The mathematics of the effectiveness includes those who get the vaccine but have compromised immune systems or in the young not fully developed immune systems.

How many refusing to get the shot will end up getting the flu and going to the ER on our nickle?

Thos who do not have to pay for such things as health care are often the ones who abuse the system.  "I don't feel, call me an ambulance"..."I have a tooth ache, call me an ambulance."

I also never had a flu shot and never had the flu. I don't like what is in the shots, be it mercury, preservatives or flu virus.

Unlike nearly every person I see in public, I don't touch anything and have not for as long as I can remember. Have napkin in my hand, will travel. I don't touch door knobs, handles, gas pumps, public pens, etc. I walk 18,000 steps a day with my pedometer (indoors, in while reading my Globe!). I fist bump when people offer me their hand. And I eat healthy - lots of fruit and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins - I do allow myself dark chocolate, sweets and potato chips in reasonable amounts -  keeping calories to 2000 a day - and I have tons of energy and my weight stays the same. I take a few supplements every day - Vitamin D, acidophilus, lutein, biotin. Oh yes, also sleep 8 hours a night.

On the rare occasion when I feel a tightness in my throat or any type of feeling, I immediately start sucking on zinc lozenges ($5 a bottle at Whole Foods), two at  a time, with something in my stomach, total of 6 a day. They have prevented anything from developing. People I have told about this have said it worked for them too! I keep a few in my pocketbook, as it's important to start them at the first sign.

Who knows - but I errr on the side of caution, and this all works for me. I am convinced that most people don't live healthfully and hygienically and that contributes to flu, colds and other preventable illnesses.

An added observation.  The two years before the polio vaccine was administered there were almost 100,OO cases of polio in the U.S.  After the polio vaccine given in 1955 to the mass population, I repeat,  in 1955 there were 2500 cases in 1957.  And eventually this disease was eradicated world wide by the end of the century.  The few sporadic outbreaks were directly linked fio the lack of taking the vaccine.  In 1979 there was a severe outbreak amongst the Amish Community who did not take the Polio vaccine but eat very, very natural, organic food.   Would all of these people who decline the flu vaccine now have so bravely refused the Polio vaccine back in 1955?  I'm old enough to have had friends who unfortunately were crippled by that disease.  A neighbor's son at age 13 was in an Iron Lung until age he died still breathinby with the aid of the Iron Lung at the oh so young age of 2 years. I'm quite sure that many of the current flu victims going to the hospital emergency rooms now were in good health before they got the flu.  The "Spanish" flu did not just affect the unhealthy, in fact the majority of its victims were the healthy 18-25 year olds. And are all of the people who refuse the flu vaccines completely free of childhood vaccines?  Their parents were probably a lot wiser than they are.  

100,000 cases of polio...

Our neighbor friend died at age 22 years young

Thank you for letting me know which CVS I should avoid (Boylston St. where that pharmacy tech handing me my prescription can't be bothered to get innoculated) and which cake decorator I will NEVER be calling. (Is she sneezing on my child's birthday cake in that pre-symptom window where she actually has the flu but doesn't know it yet?) Maybe you can keep this type of article going and next time find out which restaurant and café workers don't get innoculated and even better which ones wash their hands after going to the bathroom and which ones don't.  I'd PAY for that kind of information from the Globe and would consider it much more important and reliable than what I can read on "YELP"!