There's A Valid Analogy Here

I wore a big winter jacket today and I was still really cold

coats are a scam by Big Wool and the fake news and Dr. Fauci and the democrat party

from now I will take invermectin and viagra and drink pee to stay warm

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 10, 2022

It is my completely unscientific observation that respiratory illnesses are hard to provide a "final" vaccine for. Vaccines have eliminated smallpox, virtually eliminated polio, now prevent chickenpox and shingles, protect against diphtheria and pertussis (which is, yup, a respiratory illness) and tetanus, as well as rubella. (Gotta “boost” those, too.)

But the flu?  You need a new shot every winter, especially if you're old like Your Humble Host. I understand there's a vaccine for pneumonia, too.  Or very nearly so.  My mother succumbed to pneumonia weeks before her 90th birthday.  I say "succumbed" because she had congestive heart failure, was in stage 4 kidney failure, and was a "brittle diabetic," to the point of missing a meal or an insulin injection 3 times a day, could drop her blood sugar to single digits and bring on fits of dementia that I never could get a doctor to believe were caused by diabetes.  It was pneumonia that got her 3 years ago, and now I hear there's a vaccine for that.  So I can't make a blanket statement about all respiratory illnesses, but the comparison to influenza holds up, too.  I suppose the answer lies in influenza being, like the common cold, a family of diseases; whereas pneumonia, like polio, is more singular.  I'm not a doctor, don't take my medical advice.

Because a flu shot won't keep you from getting the flu like a polio vaccine will keep you from getting polio.  I seldom get the flu anyway, but I understand a seasonal vaccine makes the incidence milder and less likely to be serious/deadly.  You know, kinda  like wearing a coat when it's cold outside.  You may not be warm; but you're warmer than without the coat.

And you're more likely to be "tracked" with the coat, because you probably have your cell phone in a pocket....