That reminds me of a conversation I had with my gf last weekend. We stopped for breakfast at a grocery store that had a hot food bar. I mentioned to her that a year or so ago, people were talking about buffets not being part of the “new normal,” Not so much. Buffets are back.
It seems like the same might be true for international travel, if Canada is any indication.
My in-laws went to Canada as part of a Alaskan cruise a few weeks ago. They had to test negative 48 hours prior to the cruise to get on the boat (and I think cruise lines might be dropping that soon?). Then that same negative test was used for entry into Canada although the Canada stop was the last day of the cruise (a full 8 days after the original test).
I just shook my head.
Yeah, I am not sure the vaccine mandates did enough to validate their existence. Like, did it really get many more people to get vaccinated? I dont know a single person who was vaccinated that only did it because they had to (i know in medical settings this was a little different but i feel okay about medical settings mandating the vaccine). It certainly created headaches and political talking points.
I say this often, and one of the biggest motivations in life is the ability to choose. There is a very strong “Dont tell me what to do” attitude by humans, and i think its that which got Trump elected and Brexit to pass amongst other things. Mandating that you inject something into your body in order to participate in society does not jive well with our individualistic nature.
yeah, that’s why i don’t think it was a good idea.
i can’t remember if they ever required it for non-healthcare workers in new york to keep their jobs. they might have. actually, they must have since you couldn’t even enter a restaurant without a jab. i think the % of nyc residents who had at least one jab is really high. so, some people probably did comply just to keep their jobs.
Eh, I think it tipped some people to get vaccinated.
I know one person who got the vaccine because he anticipated it being required to go back to the office. Of course, he was an army vet, so getting a vaccine because somebody told you to is nothing new to him.
I remember reading that France’s vaccine uptake rate jumped when it was announced that proof of vaccines would be required to eat indoors at restaurants.
Which is ironic for a country where outdoor sidewalk dining was already part of their culture.
I know a bunch of people who will be getting a flu vaccine this year because of a vaccine mandate at their school.
Well yeah, vaccine requirements for school aged children have been effective for years. Although I didn’t know flu was one of the requirements. I do know that when only 1 vaccine is missing from the childhood immunization quality measure, it’s usually flu.
I don’t recall ever getting the flu vaccine as a kid. I’d be surprised if it was required.
I don’t think I’d even heard of flu shots until I was in college. I would stake my life that I never had one as a child. I would’ve been inclined to say they weren’t even a thing but Google tells me they became “widespread” in 1945.
Still, in 1980 they administered 12.4 million doses of flu shot in the US for a population of 226.5 million, for a 5% uptake. I assume that 5% was mostly old, sick, or working in healthcare.
It looks like we crossed the 50% threshold in 2010. 155.1 million doses for a population of 308.5 million. 2010 was a huge jump from 2009. I wonder if 2009 was an especially bad year for flu or there was a big publicity campaign to get your flu shot in 2010 or what.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccine-supply-historical.htm
yeah, i also googled it because i was confused.
my grandfather died from the flu turned pneumonia in January, 1996 though and my mother said that it was because he didn’t get a flu shot that year because he kept putting it off due to having colds, so I think it was a thing. I just never got a flu shot. might have been less of a thing for young people.
I think 1996 was the first year I got a flu shot, but not until fall. I was student teaching and they were giving them at the school where I was teaching.
Sorry about your grandfather though. 
grampie was a god among men. he was too good for this world.
I added a few more details to my earlier post.
May his memory be a blessing.
i’m surprised it was over 50% in 2010. i got the flu shot when they administered it at work a few times in likely the late 90’s or early 00’s and had a reaction to it so i stopped getting them.
last year was the first year i got a flu shot in decades because i feared getting covid and the flu at the same time. i had no reaction to the flu vaccine at all last year, so i might continue getting them. haven’t gotten one yet this year. maybe next month.
It quickly went back under 50% in 2011, but it went back over 50% a few years later. I’m not going to bother checking every year though.
I checked 1980 as it was the first on the source and then 2010 was a big spike and since it was also just barely over 50% it was quite obvious that had to be the first time it had crossed that threshold.
And of course 1980 and 2010 were both census years, so very easy to check the population too.
I didnt start getting the flu shot until I think 2018. Only reason I didnt was because I didnt feel like it. Have gotten it every year since though.