Flu Vaccine Ingredients Are Safe, Contrary to a Misleading Meme
SciCheck Digest
Influenza vaccines contain small amounts of various ingredients that allow them to work and keep them safe and long-lasting. A misleading meme suggestively lists more than two dozen substances it claims are in flu vaccines. But most are not present — and the ones that are aren’t dangerous.
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All vaccines contain tiny amounts of various ingredients, including the active ingredient, or antigen, which triggers the body to mount an immune response and produce antibodies. Some vaccines may also include stabilizers, adjuvants, preservatives and minuscule amounts of other ingredients used during their production. All of these components are safe in the concentrations used in vaccines, and many are either naturally present in our bodies or found in water, food or other products we ingest or use regularly. Manufacturers list the components of each vaccine on publicly available package inserts.
Seasonal influenza, or flu, vaccines have a “good safety record,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the benefits outweigh the risks. While the effectiveness of the shots varies each year, getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and others from the flu.
There are different types of flu, with different production processes, doses and ways of administration, as we will explain. But all of them contain components of influenza viruses, which change every year to try to that will be circulating during each season. All , they contain components of, and protect against, four influenza viruses, two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses. Just as with all vaccines, to be effective and to remain potent and free of contamination, adjuvants, stabilizers, preservatives or other residual byproducts.
