As first reported on NBC25, the seasonal flu vaccine and H1N1 vaccine, also known as the swine flu, will be combined into one shot this year.
Diana Zielinski, from Midland, is a former healthcare worker and says she gets the shot every year. She also got the separate H1N1 vaccine and will get the combined vaccine this year. She says, "I haven't been sick, not even a cold, so I'm happy with it."
Kevin Doyle, from Bay City, got the flu shot and H1N1 shot last year. He says, "It's good for people that have a low tolerance to the flu and what not. Myself, I got a high tolerance to just about anything." Doyle says he hasn't been sick in years thanks in part to vaccinations.
However, not everyone is sold in them.
Zielinski says, "My husband, didn't get his because the first time he got it, he was sick with it afterward. So he doesn't get it anymore."
The Michigan Department of Community Health encourages everyone who is able to get vaccinated saying it's the most effective way of preventing effects of the flu.
Geralyn Lasher, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Community Health, says "The seasonal flu vaccine has been done for years, and years, and years. It has rigorous testing, rigorous procedures to ensure the safety of the vaccine. By simply incorporating the H1N1 strain into that, it's following the same safety precaution."
The MDCH says the vaccines would have been combined last year, but there wasn't enough time to grow the H1N1 strain and include it in the seasonal flu shot.
