Nobody has to take it in the US, but it is highly recommended by the public health organizations that those at high risk for complications do get the vaccination. Diabetics are among the groups at higher risk.
The vaccines approved in the US have undergone more testing than even the yearly seasonal flu vaccines usually undergo, and have been deemed safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with their approval for use. The vaccine is being manufactured the way that seasonal flu vaccines have been for years which have had very low adverse effects.
If you have concerns, discuss this with your doctor to find out what the best plan is for your particular case.
See the related questions below for a list of the groups who are at higher risk for complications from the A-H1N1/-09 influenza.
In the US, only if they have an insurance plan that specifically covers it.
During the 2009 pandemic, the new vaccine for H1N1/09 was offered free to all in the US from the federal government. There is no federal government benefit to give free seasonal flu shots to all diabetics, but there may be laws in a few states that require it to be covered without copays for any plan offered in the state. It would make sense to do that since diabetics are among the groups at higher risk to have complications, hospitalizations or even die from the seasonal flu. Most HMO plans offer broader coverage for preventive care and those would usually cover immunizations, some with and some without nominal copays. It is in the interest of insurance companies to help diabetics manage their disease and prevent expensive hospitalizations with inexpensive immunizations.
Some insurance plans have special programs called "Disease Management" for diabetics and those with certain other chronic diseases. It may be that many of those plans do (wisely) offer preventive immunizations without cost to the patient.
Medicare does fully cover flu vaccinations and some diabetics who are not yet old enough for Medicare can qualify for it if they are disabled from the disease and its complications. In addition, there are special federal plans for patients who have renal disease (kidney failure or insufficiency) and many of those patients are diabetics (who often have kidney damage related to the effects of the Diabetes on the kidneys), and those programs would cover preventive flu vaccinations.
In Canada, flu vaccinations are indeed covered by universal health care. While the general public must go to a flu clinic set up specifically for the vaccinations, there is no charge to anyone. All chronically ill patients including diabetics and senior citizens get their immunizations as soon as the vaccine becomes available (often before the general public) and received in their general practitioners office.
interval- flu vaccine and the shingles vaccine
Yes, you can get flu vaccine and varicella vaccine at the same time.
Q-pan is the approved vaccine for Avian Flu or H5N1.
Tamiflu or you could get a vaccine
The flu vaccine is recommended for children and the elderly but nobody is forced to get it. Whether or not to get a flu vaccine is a personal choice.
how long is flu vaccine good for if left out of the refrigerator
no
Vaccines take a long time to make.
Yes, if they are getting both vaccines by injections. That timing of the two kinds of vaccinations (seasonal flu shot and swine flu shot) is not a problem, in fact they could be given at the same time. This is not true for the nasal mist vaccinations, however.You can NOT take a nasal flu mist for swine flu at the same time as you take a nasal flu mist for seasonal flu. They can render each other ineffective. Ask a health care professional how long you should wait between these two kinds of nasal mist vaccinations.You can take a nasal flu mist for swine flu with any other nasal flu mist vaccine EXCEPT the one for seasonal flu.The 2009 H1N1 flu shot (inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine) can be given at the same visit as any other vaccine, including pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.You can take a swine flu nasal mist at the same time as a seasonal flu shot.You can take the H1N1/09 swine flu shot and a nasal mist for the seasonal flu at the same time.There would be no reason to take the swine flu shot at the same time as the swine flu nasal mist since both do the same thing, so that should not be done.
The drug manufacturers and drug package insert data indicate that there are no known drug interaction problems with the flu vaccine and other medications. There should be no reason to avoid your regular prescribed medications after getting the flu vaccine. If you take medications that cause immunosuppression or have disease that causes suppression of your immune system, then you should consult your prescribing physician before vaccination to find out whether you should use a vaccine and, if so, which type of vaccine you should use (e.g., live attenuated vaccine vs inert vaccine).
You are not immune to Influenza. Even getting the yearly flu vaccine is no guarantee that a person won't get the flu. You can get the flu but it won't be as bad as it could be if you hadn't received the flu vaccine.
There is no vaccination in homeopathy medicinal system.