Have You Had Your Flu Shot Yet?

[Image - Wikipedia]


Alex Tabarrok, at Marginal Revolution has this to say about flu shots:

People who have the flu spread the virus so getting a flu shot not only reduces the probability that I will get the flu it reduces the probability that you will get the flu. In the language of economics the flu shot creates an external benefit, a benefit to other people not captured by the person who paid the costs of getting the shot. The external benefits of a flu shot can be quite large. Under some conditions each person who is vaccinated reduces the expected number of other people who get the flu by 1.5.

OK - better call the Dr and schedule the poke.