Fewer may get flu shots this year, surveys find
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY Only a year after the swine flu pandemic led Americans to line up for flu shots, many people are now spurning vaccines, two studies suggest. Only 37% of people plan to definitely get vaccinated this year, a Consumer Reports survey shows. About 30% say they definitely won't get a shot, while 31% of respondents are undecided, the survey of 1,500 says. Shox R3 Women Shox R4 MEDICAID: Doctors lose money giving flu shots to poor children HOME REMEDIES: Sometimes they actually work PREGNANT WOMEN: Flu shot may protect baby after birth In another survey of 1,300 adults by retailer CVS, 59% of respondents say they were "likely" to get a flu shot this year. Nearly two-thirds of CVS survey respondents knew that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends flu shots for everyone over 6 months old. But only half of those said that advice influenced their decision. Among people who say they'll skip the flu shot this year, 44% told Consumer Reports they're concerned about side effects, 41% said they're concerned about safety and 45% said fear about last year's pandemic was overblown, the survey says. Many doctors say they're concerned that vaccine myths are scaring people away from shots that could potentially save their lives — as well as the lives of their most vulnerable neighbors, such as people with cancer, the elderly and healthy newborns too young to be vaccinated.Shox R4 Women Shox R5 About 270,000 people were hospitalized for the flu last year and 12,470 died, according to the CDC. About 1,280 of those who died were children. That risk seems to have resonated with parents. Half of parents with children ages 6 months to 17 years definitely plan to get them vaccinated, the study shows. Only 41% of parents had their children vaccinated against flu in 2008. Air Yeezy Ato Matsumoto Some patients have said they're concerned about getting the new 3-in-1 vaccine. This year's flu vaccine protects not only against H1N1 (swine flu), but also two strains of seasonal flu. But Randy Bergen, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, Calif., says this year's flu shots were made in the same way as flu shots have been made for decades. Some patients resist getting a flu shot because they don't want to be told what to do, he says: "Medicine and vaccines have gotten caught up in this cynicism about government and authority." air max 95 air max penny