CDC: "Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season." The latest weekly pediatric mortality report says 28 children have died of influenza so far this season, with the number expected to increase as the season continues; last season, influenza killed 185 children.
American hospitals are notorious for nosocomial infections, which kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. "According to data from the California Department of Public Health, flu vaccination rates among health care staffers at the state’s acute care hospitals range from a low of 37 percent to 100 percent." Acute care hospital patients tend not to have much choice about whether to go to a hospital, nor even which hospital.
Children are generally required to attend school, and to get vaccinated, but the vaccine is not 100% effective, and some children are medically ineligible for it. "Influenza can spread among students, teachers, and staff in school settings. Vaccination is the most effective method to prevent influenza." PatNet has a user who claims to teach math in public school, and refuses to get vaccinated against influenza. Marcus insists emotionally that (s)he would know if (s)he had flu, and could skip school on such days. CDC guidance says the opposite: "That means that you may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick. Some people can be infected with the flu virus but have no symptoms. During this time, those people may still spread the virus to others." As usual, when marcus insists emotionally on something, (s)he ignores all evidence.
Ordinarily, I would not want people to be coerced into getting a vaccine. Hospital and school employees raise a special case, however: they are paid by the state to interact with vulnerable populations, who have little or no choice but to be exposed to them. So, should hospital and school employees be required to get vaccinated?
When it comes to disease and epidemiology, you will never keep the snakes in the basket. It's population dynamics for a segment of the population to spread the shit against all sense and caution, come hell or high water. That's why diseases will always be smarter than we are. Our disease brains are in our evolved genes, honed through slaughter and evolution, not common sense.