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I thought all of them were correct, but I was told "had a vaccine" is the idiomatic usage. Why is that? Is there a particular reason for this?

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    Please edit your post to provide some context. For example, who told you? What part of the world are you in? Are you talking about the physical administration of the vaccine or about the general concept of being vaccinated? In casual conversation I'm not very likely to use any of your examples; here in the US I'd say something like I received a flu shot or I was given a flu shot.
    – choster
    Jan 18, 2019 at 0:19
  • Someone from Britain, I presume. What's the active form though? "I got myself a vaccine for the flu (I received it from a nurse today)?"
    – JJJJ
    Jan 18, 2019 at 1:10
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    I might say I had my vaccination for the flu, or more likely I had my flu vaccination, but I had a vaccine for the flu sounds to me like you are a microbiologist whose research was stymied, or maybe that you were a courier for a vaccine delivery service and handled a shipment of flu vaccine this afternoon. :-) But again, this is from an American who does not work in medicine or epidemiology, and I have no idea if this is the normal way to express it elsewhere in the world. That is why I asked you to provide a locale and other context.
    – choster
    Jan 18, 2019 at 1:21
  • But why is got or took wrong? I don't understand why it should be considered wrong.
    – JJJJ
    Jan 18, 2019 at 1:47
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    They're not considered wrong. That's my point. Without additional context, we have no idea why "somebody" would have told you that they were wrong. Some might object to get because they hate the word get, which imparts some informality. Some may dislike take because it implies oral administration, when the flu vaccine is administered nasally or via injection.
    – choster
    Jan 18, 2019 at 2:15

1 Answer 1

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I had a vaccination

is nonstandard, as well as

I took a vaccination

I've noticed that generally, the only common English use of this phrase is

I was vaccinated

or "I got vaccinated".

The person who told you was mistaken; "had a vaccine" is not idiomatic.

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