Vaccine more for peace of mind

There is a divide out there between people who believe a vaccine is a good idea to get in the face of the pandemic of H1N1, and others who think getting it is a waste of time.

The answer to whether or not you should get the vaccine (assuming you’re in the generally healthy population and not the at-risk group) is really a personal decision.

The hard question to answer is really what benefits you get from from the vaccine and how devastating the illness would be if you got sick from it.

Many people die each year from the seasonal flu, and while deaths are occurring with the H1N1 outbreak it’s difficult to tell whether the death toll will, on a large scale, be as bad as that.

According to a seasonal flu fact sheet linked from Northern Health’s website, in B.C. 400 to 800 people die each year from the flu, pneumonia or “other complications”.

Canada-wide there are 4,000 to 8,000 deaths from those same causes.

As of last week the death toll of H1N1 in Canada was 94.

It really seems like this whole pandemic is a bit blown out of proportion.

Then again there is the other side of the story.

People born before 1957 (those into their fifties) seem to be at lower risk than others so it’s younger people that seem to be getting it and there are cases of otherwise healthy and young people succumbing to the illness.

Then again, for the most part, the symptoms are expected to be moderate and not severe — at least generally.

So it sounds like most people will come out of the pandemic relatively unscathed, save for a few empty tissue boxes.

So back to the question, should you get the shot? Yes, it wouldn’t hurt (well, you know what we mean).

According to the fact sheets the vaccine can’t make you sick so there really isn’t much reason not to get it if it means a better chance at staying healthy.

And if you’re in the at-risk group there shouldn’t even be a second thought as to whether or not to get it.

Basically it’s hard to imagine the H1N1 shot would end up saving your life, but for ease-of-mind it’s a deal that can’t be beat.

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