The flu shot won’t give you the flu says Interior Health

There was a long line up at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna Friday morning as people waited to get a flu shot.

Brian Hall brought his two kids to the clinic.

“I firmly believe in science and the evidence is pretty clear and having the flu is a terrible thing if you’ve had it. So let’s take something to avoid it. The risks are definitely outweighed by the benefits,” said Hall.

According to Interior Health, 12,200 people are hospitalized every year in Canada because of the flu and 3,500 people die from the disease or its complications.

Interior Health nurse Donna Christison says the flu shot cannot give you the flu but it can give you the symptoms.

“They might have a bit of a headache. They might feel flu-like. They might have a runny nose,” Christison said. “Those are things that they think are the flu and that they’re really sick because we gave them something. There’s nothing in our vaccine that is a live vaccine. It’s not giving them any kind of flu.”

Doctors are predicting a particularly nasty flu season and there are no guarantees you won’t get sick if you get the shot.

But it does reduce your chances of coming down with the flu.