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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Have you had the flu jab this year?

61 replies

Cloud44 · 18/11/2023 20:45

Been struggling to get the flu jab this year, local pharmacists seemed to have stopped doing them already. Just wondering if I should keep trying or give up. Early 40s and have had the jab the last couple of years. Have most people had it this year?

OP posts:
TheHawkisHowling · 18/11/2023 21:15

No. I tried to book it at Boots and couldn't get the booking page to load.

CheshireCat1 · 18/11/2023 21:16

Yes, in September, got called in.

All2Well · 18/11/2023 21:18

Had mine almost 2 months ago via local pharmacy. Usually book with Boots. I never wait for my GP as they always run out. Was very ill with side effects this year. Oddly everyone I know that's had it so far had the same experience with especially bad side effects this time round.

LemonLimeDivine · 18/11/2023 21:20

Had mine last week at Tesco pharmacy.

Original poster
Cloud44 · 18/11/2023 21:21

Sorry to hear that @All2Well , what sort of side effects?

OP posts:
Floralnomad · 18/11/2023 21:23

Have you tried supermarket pharmacies @Cloud44 , most of them near us are still doing them .

stepintochristmas1 · 18/11/2023 21:23

Yes definitely I'm entitled to it from nhs now.

Floralnomad · 18/11/2023 21:24

I had covid and flu on the same day and had no side effects and no one in my family has had side effects .

Frisate · 18/11/2023 21:25

Husband and I had it at the local pharmacy about a month ago.

Thisislifefornow · 18/11/2023 21:25

Yes, had mine end of October in asda pharmacy. I think it was £12

All2Well · 18/11/2023 21:28

Exhaustion, achy bones, banging headache and fever/chills. Lasted 2 days for me and 2/3 days for the others I know. Definitely wasn't a virus as I'd been housebound for a month before (I'm single and childless
so no chance of anyone giving me something) and had my jab a good few weeks before friends and family that also had the same side effects. I've never had side effects from the flu jab before and had no reaction to the covid jab a few weeks later. It was weird!

Duckling89 · 18/11/2023 21:30

I had it about 6 weeks ago at my GP surgery, I am pregnant though. They were doing mass vaccinations on a Saturday morning, it was very busy.

APocketOfGooseFood · 18/11/2023 21:33

I paid for mine in September at Tesco Pharmacy. I was hospitalised with flu a long time ago and never want a repeat. I can put up with a day or so of side effects for the protection it offers.

littlemissalwaystired · 18/11/2023 21:37

Yes, but I'm a midwife and got it at work. Didn't have any side effects whatsoever this year.

mindutopia · 18/11/2023 21:41

I had it and COVID jab. I’m early 40s, but I get it provided on the NHS. It’s actually been easier than previous years, but I think that’s just because the GP was more organised.

kittythames · 18/11/2023 21:44

I was just walking past the pharmacy in Morrisons in Thursday and saw the sign. I was able to have it almost straight away.

pointythings · 18/11/2023 21:45

I had this last year (not working so had to go through a pharmacy). Got cancelled three times then finally got lucky with a walk-in. This year I'm back working for the NHS and got mine that way.

mafsafanuk · 18/11/2023 21:50

Is it recommend to get one if you have no underlying health conditions? I am 43 and never had one but this thread is making me wonder if I should,..?

pointythings · 18/11/2023 21:53

@mafsafanuk I'm 55 and I've been having flu jabs annually since age 33. I've had flu 3 times in my life and it's wiped me out. Last time I developed viral pneumonia as a complication and got signed off work - that was when I decided to get the jabs. I was a healthy, fit 32-year-old at the time, in peak physical condition and competing in high level sport. Flu isn't a trivial illness. People who say it's just like a bad cold haven't actually had it.

megletthesecond · 18/11/2023 21:55

Yes. Paid for mine in Boots at the very start of October.

SnapdragonToadflax · 18/11/2023 21:56

I've got it booked for Monday. I've been trying to get an appointment at my town Boots since September, but they were always either completely out of appointments or were only times I couldn't make, so I've had to book a random little Boots in the suburbs. But that's fine, it's not far.

I've been getting it since my mid-30s when I was pregnant, just carried on ever since. I had flu when I was about 30 and it was hideous, two weeks in bed for both of us. I don't know how we'd cope now with a young child.

DogInATent · 18/11/2023 21:57

Yes, along with the Covid and pneumococcal jabs - but I get offered these due to pre-existing conditions.

EnthENd · 18/11/2023 21:57

Not yet. Not sure if I'll bother. I did last year.

My workplace offered it, but I have a history of fainting after jabs and bad memories from school vaccinations, I'd rather have it in more of a healthcare setting.

Surprised places are saying they've "stopped". I could understand no appointments right now if there are supply shortages, but it seems premature to stop altogether, winter's not even started.

Willow12345 · 18/11/2023 21:58

Had flu jab 2 weeks ago - I was offered one as an NHS volunteer

DavidChecker · 18/11/2023 22:03

Local Community Centre had a session, I walked in and asked. They took me to a clerk who logged in and told me my history which checked and 30 mins later both Flu and Covid Booster were done.

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