I come from a family that doesn’t believe in vaccines or flu shots, and I’m highly considering getting my first flu shot after 13 years (F,25)

My intermediate family (my mom, sister, and grandmother) is strongly against vaccines or flu shots since they believe that’s what caused my autism diagnosis at 2 years old. Don’t get me wrong, I went behind their back in college to get vaccinated just so I can be able to participate in activities for my sorority and I dealt with overwhelming emotions of anger towards them at the time of anger because I believed a lie all my life, and I turned out fine. Then when they figured out that I was vaccinated and angry towards them about this, they thought that I was regressing back into being autistic when I’ve always had the same symptoms from when I was a child to now. Keep in mind, I have also never had a flu shot since my autism diagnosis, but now I think that will change.

Last weekend, I was dealing with Flu A which was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I’ve never even had the flu up until this point, and I have no clue where this came from. My sister helped me fight it by making me soups, teas, and supplements in which I’m highly appreciative for (she’s my only family at this point because my mother passed, and I’ve went NC with my grandmother due to a multitude of reasons). I also went to my urgent care to get formally diagnosed with Flu A, and prescribed TamiFlu because I’m extremely impatient, tired of being sick, and I want to get back to work since I’m also a 1st responder 🥴

I’m not sure if my sister’s stance in vaccinations are still the same, but after dealing with this flu I think I’m just going to say fuck it and get my flu shot before the year ends. If I end up more autistic than before, it’s worth it than getting sick like this again😭.