The flu is a very contagious illness that mainly attacks a person’s lungs with symptoms including fever, cough, chills, body aches, vomiting, and fatigue. The flu shot is a very important vaccine most people get every year during flu season, which is from about August to the end of November. 

Getting the flu shot prevents people from making others sick as well as themselves.  Flu shots use antibodies to kill infections in the body. Vaccination has been shown to have many benefits including reducing the risk of flu illnesses, hospitalizations, and even the risk of flu-related death in children. The benefits take about two weeks after the vaccination to kick in and work with the immune system. Flu shots are available in doctor’s offices, pharmacies, clinics, health departments, and even college health centers. This year a lot of people are worried about receiving a flu shot because of coronavirus (COVID-19). Getting a flu shot this year can really benefit a human’s health because it can reduce the risk of having two respiratory outbreaks.

Although the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has said on their website, “There is no evidence that getting a flu vaccine increases your risk of getting sick from a coronavirus, like the one that causes COVID-19,” a lot of people are still skeptical about it getting it. Many Americans have gotten the shot already and have not gotten sick, aside from the side effects. 

“I get the flu shot every year and my family was very nervous about getting it this year because of the conspiracy theories, but we all realized it would be a good idea to keep us safe from the flu while not having to worry about possibly catching two sicknesses,” said Mercedes Chartrand, sophomore.

Coronavirus and the flu have very similar symptoms but are very different; the flu only lasts about 1-4 days and coronavirus can last up to 14 days with much more serious symptoms that can really affect people with underlying health problems. Masks are very important to keep other people safe, and could even keep someone safe from catching the virus which is important for older people and people which underlying medical conditions.