AN IMAGE ENTITLED “Why You Should Skip the Flu Shot” falsely says that death is a side effect of the vaccine and has spread online despite containing other verifiably misleading claims.

“Side effects listed on the inserts,” heads a column on the right side of the image, which has been shared by multiple users on Facebook, including at least one from Ireland. 

“Blood & Lymphatic Disorders,” it begins. “Gastrointestinal Disorders; Eye Disorders; Influenza-I-type Illness; Respiratory Infections; Metabolism & Nutrition Disorder; Musculoskeletal & Connective Tissue Disorders; Nervous System Disorders; Psychiatric Disorders; Guillain-Barré syndrome; Death.”

However, many of these are not listed as side effects of flu vaccines available in Ireland, while others are listed in misleading ways.

For example, a psychiatric disorder is listed as an actual side effect for one of the vaccines, called Influvac sub-unit.

However, the specific condition it refers to is “Irritability/fussiness” in children under five years old. This is unlikely to be relevant for people thinking of getting that particular vaccine, as it is one of the vaccines that’s recommended for adults.

The vaccine recommended for children does not feature this side effect warning.

Most importantly, none of the vaccines list “death” as a side effect.

There are three vaccines currently available for the flu in Ireland.

One is a nasal spray called Fluenz for children 2 to 17, while there are also two options available for adults: Influvac (sub-unit) manufactured by Viatris; and Vaxigrip manufactured by Sanofi.

All three of these do have inserts that list side effects, though they don’t match the same list as appears on the image.

These inserts are all available online.

For these vaccines, the commonly listed side effects are sore arms or fatigue, but not death.

These symptoms are often listed under certain categories. For example, headaches are listed under nervous system disorders, and appetite loss is given under metabolism and nutrition disorders.

In some cases, the actual side effects are described by a more alarming category name, e.g. fussiness as a psychiatric disorder, than is actually the case.

However, even if we ignore this and the false claim that “death” is a side effect, other so-called side effects on the list that was shared on social media are misleading.

For example, the inserts to one vaccine do mention an increased risk of respiratory infections, but only in children who are between 6 and 11 months of age.

The insert mentions this in a section recommending that the vaccine should not be given to children under two years old.

In other words, it would only be a side effect if the vaccine was used on someone who shouldn’t be taking it.

The word “death” does occur once in this literature, but not in relation to something that is a supposed side effect of the vaccine. Rather, it is listed as an effect of the disease that the vaccine protects against.

“Pregnant women are at high risk of influenza complications, including premature labour and delivery, hospitalisation, and death,” it reads. “Pregnant women should receive an influenza vaccine.”

The HSE describes the flu vaccines as “safe and effective”.

“The flu vaccine reduces the risk of getting flu by 40% to 60%,” their website reads.

“Most people who get the vaccine will be protected from the flu. You can still get the flu after vaccination. But you should have milder symptoms and recover faster.”

Anti-vaccine rhetoric has ramped up online, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccines used to combat that virus.

This year, anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr was appointed the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, while the White House has also spread long-debunked myths that vaccines cause autism.

The Journal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.