The word "mandatory" is not my favorite word. I need to redeem it... Mandatory gratitude. Mandatory gift! Mandatory day off. Mandatory pay raise...promotion...reward! 

I don't really like being told that I have to do anything...so, along with my lean toward natural solutions whenever possible, the mandatory flu shot got an automatic push back from me. Not only am I not convinced this on this vaccine, it's the one time of year that I am gauranteed to experience symptoms of a cold / flu - right after I get the flu shot.

Anyway! Since I am sitting here with a sore arm, feeling achy all over, a runny nose... I am thinking over this and wondering if just taking 3 months would have been worth it. 

Did you know that employee compliance with the influenza vaccination policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has reached 99.9 percent, up from 80 percent on Dec.1, 2014 .“On behalf of our patients, I’m very pleased to see this dramatic increase in our compliance rate,” said Gerald Hickson, M.D., senior vice-president for Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention and assistant vice chancellor for Health Affairs.

....turns out, just threaten their jobs, and they will show up. This is the email I received this week...On Dec. 1, any employee who has not received the flu shot will be put on mandatory unpaid leave until March 1.

This is fascinating research. A study conducted by Vanderbilt researchers shows those who got flu shots had a 57% less chance of getting hospitalized with pneumonia caused by the flu.

...how much did we spend on this study? ... so, people who get the flu vaccine have just a little over 50/50 chance of getting pneumonia severe enough that they will be hospitalized WHEN THEY GET THE FLU!

Researchers studied 2,700 patients over the course of three flu seasons who were admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Getting an influenza vaccine showed to be most-effective in adults under the age of 65 and children. The vaccine did not show as much success in preventing pneumonia among the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

...wait, aren't those with compromised immune systems the reason my flu shot is mandatory?

Then there is the $1.6 billion business of flu.

GlaxoSmithKline switched this year to make only the quadrivalent vaccine, citing customer demand, and has a direct-to-consumer advertising campaign for it that said, "Choose More, Choose Four." With the protection against the extra strain comes the ability to charge more

And about the fear that surrounds the choice not to vaccinate....

”The number of deaths attributed to influenza over the years is always averaged at 36,000 per year in the United States, and that number is still often used. Yes, We are told that 36,000 Americans die from the seasonal flu. We are not to notice the words "attributed to". 

...This, to me,  is like those sites that say "free shopping" and we go to check out and wonder why we are charged for shipping...and then go ahead a pay it because we already made our purchase decision.

Most of those deaths, when you look closer at the literature, resulted from bacterial pneumonia triggered by the Flu. And the age bracket for most victims is 65 and over. (Keep in mind the Vanderbilt study mentioned earlier). But the Flu itself is relatively innocuous by comparison, and actual flu death figures are statistically minor. The who base Flu death averages not on the Influenza totals but on the combined Pneumonia & Influenza totals are overcoming a serious political challenge: convincing the public of the urgency to be vaccinated when the crisis is no longer perceived to be real. Without that advantage of fear, given all that we have learned about the lack of efficacy & dangers inherent to the shots, the entire Flu Vaccine Industry might very well collapse.So when you hear the number of flu related deaths per year, remember that it’s a complete estimation. The WHO and the CDC take the numbers of not only those individuals with confirmed influenza cases, but also those individuals that have not been tested to see whether or not they had influenza but died from pneumonia. They’re taking a complete guess and assuming that about half of the individuals that died from pneumonia developed pneumonia because they contracted influenza as well, which may or may not be true. You’ll also see that, despite a consecutive increase of flu vaccinations each year, the number of influenza AND pneumonia cases remain about the same (vaxtruth.org).

How do we get a 100% compliance rate, so that Vanderbilt can put that out to the public to make them feel safe and commuicate that if your health care leaders value the vaccine so much, you should too! ...it all comes back to this - if you don't have a real promise to make about your product, find a way to scare your consumers! 

enough... I'm going to get my kleenex and cardamom tea - see if I can beat this immune response to my forced flu shot and have a mandatory great day anyway! 

Mandatory self care day! Mandatory time with the people you love! Mandatory gratitude! ​