I get a flu shot to protect others and to protect myself. I was very clearly exposed to the H1N1 pandemic flu a few weeks after getting the vaccine, and, to the extent I got sick at all, I had minimal symptoms. I can’t know the extent to which my vaccine protected me or protected people around me, but, on expectation, it certainly provided a considerable amount of protection to me and others.

(For all that the H1N1 pandemic flu was minor compared to COVID, it still put a lot of people in the hospital. I’m quite glad I didn’t get a severe case.)