Sanofi Markets New Intradermal Flu Vaccine

I read this in one of my industry trades this morning. Sanofi Pasteur actually hired Chris O'Donnell to peddle their new intradermal flu vaccine. Why bother?

A little less ouch, a lot less flu risk.

Well, let's face it: Even if are children are asthmatic, most of us don't get flu shots. Sure, we have our kids get them (unless, like mine, your kid is allergic to eggs or fish. Or because we're scared about thimerosal, but that's another story altogether.), but most of the adults skip the stick. And we do that, most likely, because we hate getting shots.

So this new vaccine is cool. It's not really a shot. My dad is a pharmacist who has to administer flu vaccines, and he says these needles are literally 90% smaller than regular shots, and they just barely puncture the skin. They're fairly painless, and they don't ache for days after like the old needles.

Of course, you can still get the old-fashioned injection. If you're a masochistic and that's you're thing, then have at it, Ana Steele.

For me, if I can't get the intra-nasal vaccine, I'll go the intra-dermal route. I'm scared to death of needles. ;)