The Metro health department says even after tens of thousands of doses of the H1N1 vaccine, they have received no reports of any illnesses or adverse reactions.
But, vaccines in general are not free of controversy or concern.
A Kentuckiana man believes a pneumonia vaccine injured him.
As a thoroughbred trainer since 1972, Rick Hiles is an expert on horses, but concerning his own health, he relied on a doctor's advice when he decided to get the pneumonia vaccine last year.
"He said it would only make your arm sore for a couple of days," Hiles recalled, "and so after quite a bit of questioning, I said okay, if that's all it's going to do."
Hiles says his arm was so sore the next day he could hardly lift it.
And then, "on a Sunday night, about ten days afterwards, I was sitting at home. All of a sudden I had a real loud noise in my ear, it was real loud and two seconds later I was completely deaf."
His hearing in his left ear was gone. For the next week, Hiles says he got dizzier and sicker, and eventually got pneumonia. He recovered from the pneumonia.
But the hearing in his left ear is gone forever.
"When I'm in board rooms, I have to try to position everybody to my right side," Hiles said, "Because I don't hear anything on my left side." "In my mind, the vaccine knocked my hearing for life."
Hiles says - to be clear - he can't prove that link, but he has now researched vaccine injuries on the Internet.
The very existence of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program implies some risk. But, the Metro Public Health Department's Dr. Matt Zahn says the federal government assumes liablity so vaccines don't become cost-prohibitive for pharmaceutical companies.
He says the program does not mean that vaccines are unsafe.
"The unanimous conclusion for these vaccines is that they are safe and effective and important," Zahn said.
But, the stories of vaccine injuries, however isolated or unproven, seize just as much attention, such as the cheerleader-in-training seen on Inside Edition who began suffering uncontrollable muscle spasms ten days after a flu shot.
WHAS11 News has chronicled the struggels of the Riggle family of Louisville, who believes that mercury in a vaccine triggered their son's autism.
"We are not so anti-vaccination as we are pro-information," Emlyn Riggle explained.
"And knowing all the risks because you will risk something no matter what you choose."
Hiles is also pushing for more disclosure about vaccine injuries.
"If I had known that going in, I might have thought twice about taking the shot," Hiles explained.
The Centers for Disease Control says the pneumonia vaccine is "very safe and does not make you sick," though some people get a little swelling and soreness. Other possible side effects that are listed are fever, rash, and allergic reactions.
And public health professionals say some conditions that might appear as side effects could just be random occurences.
"Right now we are in the process of vaccinating maybe 100 million people with h1n1 vaccine," explained Dr. Matt Zahn of the Metro Health and Wellness Department.
"In the week or two week period after we vaccinate those 100 million people, a small number of them will get cancer, a small number of them will get hit by a bus, a small number of them will have an event happen where they lose their hearing."
Zahn says when one thinks of the rarity of measles or mumps or polio in the United States, the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the "small risks."
As for Rick Hiles? "I'm through with vaccines the rest of my life. No more vaccines," he said.
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