Flu shot not ‘untested’ COVID-19 vaccination
As flu season nears, doctors advocate that people receive the seasonal influenza vaccine, which health experts say is more important than usual amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They say having more defenses against the seasonal flu will put less strain on the medical system, which will help the country have more capacity to combat the novel coronavirus.
Claims on social media advise against taking the vaccine by incorrectly conflating the flu shot with a potential vaccine for the coronavirus, the latter of which is still in development.
On Sept. 15, Facebook user Madyson Marquette posted what she said was an exchange with her son’s pediatrician regarding the flu shot. She said her son’s doctor told her the strain of the flu for the shot was “Covid, but a very low strain of it.” The coronavirus causes COVID-19, the disease that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans.
Marquette’s post says she told the doctor she wouldn’t give her child an “untested Covid flu shot.” She alleges the doctor said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asks physicians to push the shot.
“Wake UP and for all (that) is Holy DO NOT GIVE your children a Covid vaccine!!” her post says.
Marquette did not return a USA TODAY request for additional information.
Medical professionals debunked the idea that those who take the flu vaccine would be more likely to test positive for the coronavirus or become sick with it.
The coronavirus is not in the flu shot
Both the seasonal flu and the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, are viruses that can cause fever, cough, shortness of breath and other symptoms.
SARS-CoV-2 is not a strain of the flu. It’s part of a family of coronaviruses, including some that give people upper respiratory illnesses. Experts say the novel coronavirus is much deadlier than the seasonal flu.
This year’s flu shot contains neither the coronavirus nor elements meant to protect people from it.
Each year, researchers update the flu shot to protect those who receive it from strains of the influenza virus. The shot protects against either three strains (trivalent) or four strains (quadrivalent). Changes for the 2020-2021 flu vaccine include modified components to combat some updated flu strains, but there are no additions to the shot listed to combat coronaviruses, according to the CDC’s website.
A Reuters fact check that reviewed the contents of flu vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found none contained SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses.
The FDA tests and approves all influenza vaccines, according to the CDC, meaning no child or adult would be offered an “untested” flu shot by a doctor.
Neither the CDC nor any physician is pushing a coronavirus vaccine because there isn’t one to push. The vaccine is under development, and it’s unknown when one will become widely available in the USA.
According to The New York Times’ Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker, 40 vaccines are in clinical trials on humans, and at least 92 are being tested on animals. Some vaccines in China and Russia have been approved for early or limited use, but none has reached the point of being administered to the American public.
Medical professionals debunked the idea that those who take the flu vaccine would be more likely to test positive for the coronavirus or become sick with it. According to the CDC, there’s no evidence that either would occur. The CDC says the flu vaccine will not protect against catching the coronavirus.
Our ruling: False
Though the exact wording of the verbal exchange between the author of the Facebook post and her son’s pediatrician is unknown, her post contains false claims.
COVID-19 is not a strain of the flu – it’s a coronavirus – and would not be present in a seasonal flu vaccine. The flu shot does not contain the novel coronavirus, nor is there evidence that receiving the shot would increase or decrease a person’s chances of catching COVID-19. Each flu shot is scrutinized and approved by the FDA, so it’s not “untested.” And no coronavirus vaccine has made it beyond the clinical trial stage in the USA, thus no vaccine is available to the public.