Quote Originally Posted by mamboni View Post
No deadline spelled out. But after reading the medical literature, I find the potential side effects acceptable from a riak standpoint - it is exceedingly low. As to the question of taking the flu vaccine - I do not like being told that I have to do anything, especially when it impacts directly on my body. But, I cannot make a defensible case against the vaccine vis-a-vis the evidence. On a practical side, I am a private contractor. If I miss 3 days of work, the cost to me personally is in the thousands of dollars. Balance that against the flu vaccine likely reducing my chance of contracting flu by about half. From a business standpoint, the flu vaccine is a fair hedge against loss. Now there are those in the alternative media who claim that the vaccine has long term detrimental health effects (i.e. damaged immunity, increased risk of Alzheimer's disease etc.). I have investigated the peer-reviewed studies and cannot find the publications to back up these claims. The Cochrane report finds thst flu vaccine has little to no benefit to the population in general. But to the specific question of whether mandatory vaccination of healthcare workers is a net benefit vis-a-vis preventing nosocomial flu there is one paper, only one, that does show significant benefit in preventing infection of patients and reducing worker sick time. So if I try to fight the shot, I standing on empirical quicksand.
...well, at the end of the day each person's circumstances are different, and that's a lot of money to lose for a few days' work. imo, the important thing is to be able to make an informed decision, and it appears you have certainly done your homework. good luck to you, mamboni...let us know how it all plays out.