Pretty much half the world’s population will be infected, I’m pretty sure I’ve already been thanks to my sister and Eamonn. Not everyone will be symptomatic and of those that are not everyone will be of the same severity. In a nutshell, you’ll probably get it but may not get sick and if you do, you may or may not get very sick.

The vaccine will give you a small dose of a live H1N1 virus so your body can immunise itself against it. Live vaccines CAN make you sick as well, I recently got an MMR booster for med school and I was sick for a day or two afterwards.

At the end of the day it’s up to you, your paranoia and how much public interaction your job has (I don’t know what you do). You’ll probably get swine flu anyway so immunisation is probably a good idea. Similarly, if you’re interacting with the public on a day to day basis it’s probably good to be immunised, both for their sake and yours. If you’re worried about how vaccines are a way of controlling your thoughts then I’d probably stick clear of it and go back to making tin-foil hats.

One thing to remember regarding the virus is that you’ll still be carrying it up to 10 days after you feel better so you’re still infectious. You’ll do a million times more good than the vaccine will if you just sterilise your hands after shaking hands with someone or touching your nose or mouth.

Bottom line: Wash your hands and maybe get the vaccine, you’ll probably get sick anyway.