8 Potential Side Effects of the Flu Shot You Might Not Know About, According to Doctors

Trump Team Co-Chair Questions Vaccines On CNN: 'They're Not Proven'

Donald Trump transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick questioned the safety of vaccines while speaking with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday night.

"Vaccines are safe," Collins said, while talking about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s self-reported possibility of being "promised" by the former president to head the Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture if Trump wins the 2024 election.

"Why do you think vaccines are safe," Lutnick shot back, adding, "there's no product liability anymore." Collins responded, "Because they're proven ... Kids get them and they're fine," prompting Lutnick to ask, "why do you think they're fine?"

According to CNN, Kennedy said during a livestream event on Monday that what Trump "has promised me is—is control of the public health agencies, which are HHS and its subagencies, CDC, FDA, NIH and a few others, and then also the USDA, which is—which, you know, is key to making America healthy."

Lutnick also claimed that both he and Collins "know so many more people" now that have autism versus when they were younger. Collins quickly asserted that "vaccines don't cause autism," pointing to Kennedy also peddling that falsehood, "which is why people are concerned that he could get a job like HHS."

Howard Lutnick, co-chair of the Trump 2024 transition team, is pictured speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 27. Lutnick questioned the use of vaccines while speaking on CNN Wednesday night.... Howard Lutnick, co-chair of the Trump 2024 transition team, is pictured speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 27. Lutnick questioned the use of vaccines while speaking on CNN Wednesday night. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) More

Kennedy, who suspended his independent presidential campaign in August before endorsing Trump, is founder of the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned against immunizations and other public health measures, such as the use of fluoride in public water supplies.

The Trump campaign has not confirmed Kennedy's statement about being promised a role in the former president's potential administration. Trump did say at a rally on Sunday in New York City, however, that he would let Kennedy "go wild on the medicine" if he wins next week.

"Robert F. Kennedy cares more about human beings and health and the environment than anybody," Trump said in part. "Having him is such a great honor ... I'm going to let him go wild on health, I'm going to let him go wild on, I'm going to let him go wild on the medicine."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment late Wednesday.

Health experts have raised concerns about the impact Kennedy could have if granted a seat under Trump's administration. During a conference for the American Public Health Association on Monday, Trump's former surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, said he was worried about how Kennedy's influence on Trump's potential second term could impact the "nation's health."

"If RFK has a significant influence on the next administration, that could further erode people's willingness to get up to date with recommended vaccines, and I am worried about the impact that could have on our nation's health, on our nation's economy, on our global security," Adams said at the event in Minneapolis, according to Sheryl Stolberg of The New York Times.

Update 10/30/24, 11:10 p.M. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.

10 Facts About Vaccines That Will Blow Your Mind

Though we have certainly become quite familiar with vaccines over the past few years, protecting ourselves against contagious diseases and viruses is nothing new. Rewind 600 years ago when people attempted to keep themselves healthy by exposing themselves to others inflicted with smallpox, known as variolation; some experts believe the practice was done as far back as 200 BCE.

Fast forward to the spring of 1796 when an eight year old boy became the first person vaccinated when he got the jab for smallpox. Jump ahead another 120 years or so to 1918 when the first flu shot was administered to the U.S. Military in an attempt to thwart the Spanish Flu; vaccines that followed include those to combat yellow fever, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis B, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), pneumonia, HPV, rotavirus, meningitis, malaria, Ebola, monkeypox and, of course, COVID, to name a few.

According to Dr. Georgina Peacock, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Immunization Services Division, vaccines help our bodies learn how to defend themselves from disease without the dangers of a full-blown infection. Vaccines work by imitating an infection—the presence of a disease-causing organism in the body—to engage the body's natural defenses.

Here, we look at 10 things to know about vaccines.

Vaccines Are Lifesaving

The World Health Organization reports that global vaccine efforts have saved an estimated 154 million people worldwide, or the equivalent of six lives every minute of every year. Of those, nearly 94 million are attributed to protection by measles vaccines. What's more, over the past 50 years vaccines against 14 diseases have directly contributed to reducing infant deaths by 40% worldwide.

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Not Just for Kids

Adults need vaccinations, too, and not only to keep us healthy. In addition to helping prevent and spread serious diseases, vaccines help us combat poor health, missed work, medical bills and not being able to care for our families due to illness. We need different vaccinations at all stages of our lives, and depending on where we live and our careers, lifestyles, travel schedules, health conditions, and previous vaccinations. Your trusted healthcare provider can recommend the right vaccinations for you and your family, and ensure you're all up to date.

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Get a Boost

The protection some vaccines provide can fade over time, and you may need additional doses, or boosters, to maintain that protection. As an example, adults should receive a tetanus booster every 10 years to protect against infection from dirty wounds. Talk to your healthcare provider about the vaccinations you have under your belt to see whether you may have missed any or need boosters, according to Peacock.

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Protect Yourself and Others

Peacock adds vaccines help your body create protective antibodies, proteins that help it fight off infections. By getting vaccinated, you can protect yourself and avoid spreading preventable diseases to other people in your community. Some people in your life may not be able to get certain vaccines because they are too young or too old, or they have a weakened immune system or other serious health conditions. Those people are less likely to catch a preventable disease when you and those around them are vaccinated against it.

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Years of Research

Years of research go into creating vaccines before they are made available to the public, followed by three phases of testing and clinical trials overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): small groups to determine safety and correct dosage; larger groups for efficacy and side effects; and thousands of people to confirm safety and effectiveness. Even after vaccines are put into public use, their safety is continually monitored.

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Safety First

According to Peacock, vaccination remains the safest and most dependable strategy to build immunity and protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. The safety of vaccines is a top priority for CDC during health emergencies and as new vaccines are recommended for use in the U.S. Robust, complimentary systems work together to quickly detect and assess potential safety concerns. If CDC's vaccine safety monitoring systems alert experts that a vaccine could be causing a health problem, CDC and FDA will investigate and take action if needed.

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Thank the Cows

The first successful vaccine was created in 1796 by English physician Dr. Edward Jenner, based on the discovery that milkmaids who had been infected with cowpox were immune to the much deadlier smallpox. (The word "vaccine" was derived from vacca, the Latin word for cow. How important was Jenner's discovery? Smallpox killed at least 300 million people in the 20th century, but since 1980 there has not been a single recorded case.

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Side Effects Are a Good Thing

Your arm may be sore after a jab, and you may even experience some side effects from a vaccination, but that's not a bad thing. Rather, side effects can me that the vaccine is working. If you experience redness, pain, or itching at the injection site; a low-grade fever; or feel tired, those symptoms will likely disappear after a day or two. "They are a great sign because they show that the vaccine is doing its job of activating your immune system to build up a wall of defense," says Jennifer L. Brull, M.D., president of the American Academy of Family Physicians board of directors.

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Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism

A discredited study in 1998 erroneously suggested a link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and childhood vaccines; the author of the study later had his medical license revoked. Decades of subsequent research have not found any connection between vaccines and ASD. If you're concerned, talk with your trusted family doctor.

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Go Ahead, Sleep on Vaccines

Research shows if you have a good night's sleep – at least six hours – before and after a flu or hepatitis vaccine, you'll have stronger protection. Restful sleep strengthens special immune cells known as T cells, which amps up the vaccine. Exercise is helpful.

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Moderna, Pfizer Or Novavax? How The Three Covid-19 Vaccines Differ According To Yale Medicine

With flu season underway and new, developing COVID-19 strains, health professionals continue to stress the importance of receiving an updated vaccine. On Oct. 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for people 65 years and older and for people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.

The recommendation, made by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, acknowledges the increased risk of severe disease from COVID-19 in older adults and those who are immunocompromised, along with the currently available data on vaccine effectiveness and year-round circulation of COVID-19, a news release stated.

"This vote allows people to make the best decisions possible to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from COVID-19," said CDC Director, Mandy Cohen in a statement. "CDC will continue to educate the public on how and when to get their updated vaccinations so they can risk less severe illness and do more of what they love."

There are three types of vaccines available in the United States — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax. According to the CDC, there is no preference for one vaccine over the other.

Wondering how the three vaccines differ? Yale Medicine has published a report comparing the three vaccines. Here's what they found.

More: When will COVID-19 vaccines be available for fall-winter season? What to know

Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax: How do the three vaccines compare?

Frontline healthcare workers receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.

Pfizer-BioNTech: The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first COVID vaccine to receive FDA Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration back in December 2020. It was later granted full FDA approval in August 2021 for people ages 16 and older.

Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccine has been updated over time to target currently circulating variants, most recently in August, and is recommended for everyone six months and older. Children ages six months to four years may get multiple doses while children five and older may get one dose of the 2024-2025 updated vaccine.

People 65 years and older, and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, may receive a second dose six months after their first dose, read the report.

Possible side effects of the Pfizer vaccine include pain, redness, or swelling where the shot was administered. Patients may also experience tiredness, headaches, muscle pains, chills, fever, or nausea. If side effects occur they typically wear off in a few days. Few side effects are serious, although rare, reported Yale.

The updated vaccines were approved based on preclinical studies of their efficacy against circulating strains. People may still become infected even after receiving a vaccine, however, the goal of the vaccines now is to prevent severe disease, hospitalization and death. According to Yale, research has suggested that people who are infected after vaccination are less likely to report "long COVID" — signs, symptoms, and conditions that continue or develop after acute COVID infection — compared to those who were not vaccinated.

Vials of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona March 1, 2021. Rockland County worked with Refuah Health Center, Good Samaritan Hospital and the Rockland County Office for the Aging to vaccinate 280 seniors from the Office the AgingÕs Senior Covid-19 vaccine waitlist.

Moderna: Moderna was granted FDA Emergency Use Authorization in December 2020, just a week after Pfizer. The FDA later granted the Moderna vaccine full approval for people 18 and older in January 2022.

People ages 6 months and older are eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine, with specific recommendations for certain groups. Children ages six months to four years need multiple doses including at least one dose of the 2024-2025 updated vaccine. People ages five and older years may get one dose of the 2024-2025 updated vaccine.

People 65 years and older, and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, may receive a second dose six months after their first dose. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may decide to receive additional doses in accordance with their healthcare provider, reported Yale.

For more information about dose recommendation, visit the CDC website.

The side effects from Moderna's vaccine are similar to Pfizer's — pain, redness, swelling where the shot was administered, and/or tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, or nausea throughout the rest of the body.

Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed Novavax logo in this illustration taken on November 27, 2021.

Novavax: The Novavax was the fourth COVID vaccine to be administered in the U.S., after Johnson & Johnson, which is no longer available. The Novavax vaccine is the only non-mRNA updated COVID vaccine that has been available in the U.S. The vaccine had a 90% efficacy in its clinical trial, performing almost as well as the mRNA vaccines in their early trials.

The FDA authorized an updated COVID vaccine from Novavax at the end of August for people ages 12 and older, reported Yale.

People 12 and older are eligible to receive the Novavax vaccine. People 65 and older, and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, may receive a second dose six months after their first dose. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may receive additional doses in consultation with their healthcare provider.

Novavax's side effects are similar to those of Moderna and Pfizer. In rare cases, myocarditis and pericarditis was reported in clinical trial participants as well as severe allergic reactions.

While Novavax's 2024-2025 updated vaccine targets the JN.1 variant, and not KP.2 like Pfizer and Moderna, Novavax has reported that non-clinical data has demonstrated broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against multiple variant strains such as JN.1, KP.2 and KP.3.

What is the circulating COVID-19 strain in Tennessee? Updated data for Davidson County

Across the United States, KP.3.1.1 of the Omicron family, is the leading variant, accounting for 57% of cases throughout the two-week period ending on Oct. 26. The CDC's data tracker tool did not provide nowcast estimates for the Southeast region, due to estimates only being available for regions having over 300 sequences.

According to the Tennessee Health Department, Davidson County has averaged 29 new COVID-19 cases reported per day for the seven-day period ending on Oct. 19, 2024.

Throughout that same time period, the county had an average daily case rate of 4 cases per 100,000 residents per day. The week prior, Davidson County averaged 15 new cases per day.

Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.Com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Best COVID-19 vaccine? Comparing Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax vaccines

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