Flu shot
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I have received a total of seven vaccination shots: four COVID shots and three flu shots (October 2020, 2021 and 2022). I’ve been getting an annual flu shot for more than twenty years now. Now, it looks like I’ll be in for an annual prophylactic COVID shot as well.
I reached a point many years ago when I decided that I could not afford to be sick. So, dismissing others’ skepticism about the efficacy and value of flu shots, I figured I would retard the risk with the annual jab. Influenza is one of our biggest viral killers. It’s not sexy like bubonic plague, but its old and persistent. As to the efficacy of flu vaccines, I trust the data.
So, I got my annual flu shot this year on Friday, October 7th. The vaccination is free for many people - people who are then surprised when I report that I always have to pay ¥3,300 (about $31CAD). That’s just the way of health insurance. Not everyone’s insurance coverage is the same.
Before getting any vaccination shot of any kind, patients are asked to fill out a one-page health questionnaire. This is the one I was given for my flu shot. It asks things like my name, age, birthday, sex, address and telephone number, my temperature at the time of the vaccination, plus a brief medical history: health conditions, family history, medicines I’m taking, etc.
Some clinics have an English-language version. Failing that, the clinic’s reception staff can help a foreign patient fill it out.