The Claim:
On his television show, Bill Maher talks to Lara Trump about how he gets the flu immediately after getting vaccinated and how the strain in the flu vaccine only covers last year’s flu strain.
The Facts:
The vaccine cannot give you the flu.
The flu shot uses a virus that is dead and cannot make copies of itself. This means the virus cannot grow, spread, or take over cells in your body the way a real flu infection does. Because it cannot copy itself, it cannot cause illness. Your body only sees the virus pieces and learns how to fight the real flu in the future.
The nasal spray flu vaccine is different. It uses a weakened virus—one that is too weak to cause illness. It can live for a short time in the cool part of your nose, which helps your immune system practice fighting it. But once it reaches the warmer inside of your body, the virus dies and cannot spread or cause disease.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved too since this was originally posted. Be sure to check out our most recent posts and browse the latest Just the Facts Topics for the latest.
Just the Facts Newsletter:
Correcting this week's disinformation
Sign up to get a weekly look at the latest vaccination facts as we debunk the latest false vaccination claims making the rounds on the internet.