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Flu shots prevent serious illness but why don’t many Indians take them?

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Aarti Rawal* is a 27-year-old resident of Delhi. In 2025 for the first time, Rawal took the flu vaccine on her doctor’s recommendation, “after a spell of long Covid in 2023 and 2024 messed up my health”, she said. “I’d get recurrent bronchial attacks exacerbated by winter pollution.”

When she repeated the shot in spring this year, she got her family to take it as well, even though they showed some reluctance. “They didn’t think it was necessary,” said Rawal.

Despite frequent travel within India and abroad, Rawal noticed that she was not falling sick as much as before, which, she said, “was a welcome relief”.

She has also been spared, so far, during Delhi’s present surge in influenza cases.

ISignal spoke with four doctors, all of whom affirmed Rawal’s experience in the context of the present surge of swine flu: People of all ages, including children, who have taken the flu shot have either not fallen sick, or experience milder symptoms.

Swine flu, also known as H1N1 flu based on the virus that causes it, is categorised as Influenza A, a serious form of the flu in terms of morbidity and mortality. India typically sees two influenza seasons, one from January to March and the other after the monsoon sets in.

“India’s swine flu mortality rate hovers...