Booster Flu Jab......phew!!

My 91yo mum had her flu jab earlier this week. She's as hale and hearty as ever, no side effects.

I breathed a sigh of relief this morning to be told that the surgery had run out of 'flu vaccine. I was offered a jab against shingles but I'm now deciding on that one which is given until you reach 80-------2 years to go.Will it be worth it ?

Had my triple jab on Tuesday. Bit shivery and headachy today. But not too bad. DH absolutely fine

I went to buy a bottle of Calpol for poorly DGS at a corner pharmacy in Walthamstow today, while I was waiting to pay I was offered a flu jab!
Bless them, I felt mean declining as I had mine about 4 weeks ago!

Taken from the nhs website:

How the flu vaccine works...
The injected flu vaccine stimulates your body's immune system to make antibodies to attack the flu virus.

Antibodies are proteins that recognise and fight off germs, such as viruses, that have invaded your blood.

If you're exposed to the flu virus after you've had the flu vaccine, your immune system will recognise the virus and immediately produce antibodies to fight it.

It may take 10 to 14 days for your immunity to build up fully after you have had the flu vaccine.

You need to have a flu vaccination every year, as the antibodies that protect you from flu decline over time, and flu strains can also change from year to year.

The flu vaccine cannot cause flu because there are no active viruses in the vaccine.

If you have what you think is flu after vaccination, it may be that you have caught a flu-like virus that isn't really flu, or you may have caught flu before your flu vaccination had taken effect.

It is difficult to tell if any symptoms occurring a day or so after a jab is a reaction to the jab or was already in a persons system beforehand. p.s. my arm still feeling tender but I am not unwell!

Yellowmellow I m not at all sure what you mean by ‘I must know better than your gp’ all I have said was it’s not a live vaccine so can’t GIVE you flu I didn’t say your reactions weren’t valid everyone is different and of course everyone’s reactions are different you can be sensitive to other components of the vaccine you may be harbouring a cold or virus at the time you have it, without knowing it, you immune system may be at a lower edge to normal I certainly didn’t dismiss your own reaction

I very rarely put 'threads' on here. Th reason I put this one on was to find out how people coped with this booster jab, as my experience wasn't good. At no point did I say it had given me flu, and neither was I telling people not to have the jab. If anyone does have a bad reaction please tell your G.P. In my circle of friends who are nearly 65 or are over 65 it has been a mixed bag. Some nothing, some mild symptoms and others have felt really bad. Like most reactions to vaccines.
I work so don't spend much time on Gransnet, but enjoy reading the answers, and occasionally comment. I think it's important for people to post/comment without any getting on their high horse, just because what you say doesn't suit. Al I would say is...tough....if I anyone has different experiences, including me, we will voice them

I had mine on Saturday morning. Am exactly 65 so don't know which I had I didn't ask. Practice nurse checked my DOB and confirmed I was 65 but still don't know if that influenced her decision as to which injection to give me. Didn't hardly feel it going in but woke up in the night to a very sore arm and feeling unwell with virusy type symptoms . Still have sore arm today but feel more myself so just mild reaction I think. Didn't react at all to last years

I had my 65+ flu jab on Sat morning at the GP. The nurse explained it contained a stronger vaccine so more likely to get a reaction as in a sore arm. She was right! Never had any sort of reaction before but my arm is sore!

Though I was feeling down & below par when I went for the jab as my back/hip is very painful atm. The nurse was preparing the syringe & she was checking name etc on the form when she said, 'Oh my I nearly gave you the wrong one.. I did not think you were old enough for the stronger one' I almost skipped out of the surgery!

DH and I both had our flu jabs on Saturday morning (our GP holds a Saturday morning drop in for flu jabs which is great for working people). Now you can’t even see where DH had his. It’s neither itchy, red or sore. Mine is bright red, inflamed and very sore and itchy. I’m beginning to wonder if he actually had it done at all (he went in after me)

Bluebelle....you obviously know more than my G.P

It can't give you "flu", but flu- like symptoms are a known side effect so people who deny that other peoples reactions are valid don't know what they're talking about.

The flu- like side effects (which I've had once..... my flu jab provider confirmed that that year was a batch that had a high amount of reactions) is preferable to having real flu (which I also had once) so its not anti-jab to acknowledge that it DOES happen

I felt zilch at the time and since and I had mine for the over 65's well over a week ago.

I had my first ever flu vaccine this year but no reaction apart from a slightly sore arm.

Dh has had the jab for years. He's never had a reaction nor had the flu.

As said before it can’t give you flu it’s not a live vaccine
You may be intolerant to something in it but it’s not flu

Well......I had one horrible reaction, even the G.P told me it was the flu jab...I have a jab every year....and will again, but not the one for the over 65's. Not risking that lot again,

I had mine, I didn’t ask which one. I’m over 65 but I had hardly any reaction. I felt like I had a very mild virus for a few hours 12 hours later that may have had nothing to do with the jab, but otherwise nothing, not even a sore arm. Hope that doesn’t mean it hasn’t ‘taken’. I’ve never had the flu (fingers crossed) and I certainly don’t want it.

Had my flu jab about 4 weeks ago, no reaction at all.

Thats not to say that it hasnt worked if you have had no noticeable reaction, but your body is supposed to react to vaccines & if its noticeable think of it as reassurance that it has worked

If your body had no reaction at all to a live vaccine it wouldn't be working. Just something to bear in mind..

Bluesky everyone I know has had no reactions at all so please don’t let it put you off it’s worth it

Harrigran I ve no idea what you mean by booster perhaps something extra that is not offered to me but the flu jabs are definitely NOT live, look it up if you don’t agree So I m presuming you are talking about something different altogether

Our practice nurse who gave us the over 65s flu jab said we shouldn’t have much of a reaction, (we didn’t) but that the one for the under 65s was causing a bit of bother!

I’m sure that’s correct Lucky. It’s what I thought. This year the jabs offered are in two categories - 4 strain protection for the under 65s and 3 (trivalent) for the over 65s with an added ingredient deemed helpful to,our age group. Maybe this ingredient is being seen as a “booster”? In any case I’m happy to have had mine, and found it to be the same as usual, a very sore and swollen arm, which reassured me it had “taken”.