A lot of people buy lottery tickets with a lot worse odds. I would much rather get a flu shot than deal with having the flu, even if there is still a chance that I might get the flu anyway.
The thing that seals the deal for me is the fact that if I get a flu shot and end up getting the flu anyway it probably won't be as severe as it would have been if I hadn't gotten the flu shot. That translates into less time being sick, less risk of being hospitalized or worse. Plus I get to pat myself on the back for helping to improve herd immunity.
Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.
A 2017 study showed that flu vaccination reduced deaths, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, ICU length of stay, and overall duration of hospitalization among hospitalized flu patients.
A 2018 study showed that among adults hospitalized with flu, vaccinated patients were 59 percent less likely to be admitted to the ICU than those who had not been vaccinated. Among adults in the ICU with flu, vaccinated patients on average spent 4 fewer days in the hospital than those who were not vaccinated.CDC Vaccine Effectiveness
