Tens of thousands of users on social media are sharing a clip of television personality Dr Mehmet Oz, in which he appears to be saying the flu shot increases the chances of getting COVID-19. This claim is false. While the video is authentic, users are misrepresenting Dr. Oz’s remarks. The flu shot does not increase people’s chances of getting COVID-19.

Posts with this claim are visible on Twitter here , here , Facebook here , here and Instagram here .

The video in this claim shows Dr Oz during the final seconds of Fox Outnumbered Overtime on Sept. 16 (host Harris Faulkner says at the beginning ‘I know we are running out of time’). Before ending the show, Faulkner asked about the importance of getting a flu shot because of the COVID-19 pandemic, to which Dr. Oz responded “It’s not just a flu shot. It increases the chance, it seems, of you getting Covid-19.”

Cheryl Crowley, a spokeswoman for Dr. Oz, clarified to Reuters via email that in his answer Dr. Oz was referring to the flu, not the vaccine.

“He responded in agreement with getting the flu shot saying ‘It’s not just a flu shot. It (the flu) increases the chance, it seems, of you getting Covid-19’,” she said.

Dr. Oz addressed this specific misinformation on Twitter in September here

In the last seconds of the interview, Dr. Oz tries to elaborate on his answer, saying “in Italian studies, people who get the flu vaccines have lower risks of death.” Crowley noted Oz was referring to a study here , in which researchers found a correlation between higher influenza vaccination rates and fewer COVID-19 deaths ( here ).

Crowley also added Dr. Oz and his staff got their flu shots on Sept. 18. A video posted on Dr. Oz’s Twitter account corroborates this here .

Reuters was unable to find the full version of the segment, but previous public comments from Dr. Oz support the view this claim is misleading.

In a video posted on his Twitter here on Sept. 14, Dr. Oz said getting a flu shot this fall “is more critical than ever” because of COVID-19. While the flu shot does not protect against the new coronavirus, he says, it reduces the chances of getting both viruses at the same time, meaning it can save lives and can ensure medical resources are available to care for COVID-19 patients.

Medical experts and health authorities have also addressed the importance of receiving a flu jab in the context of COVID-19 ( here , here , here , here )

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has debunked the claim that the flu shot increases the chances of getting sick from COVID-19 ( here ). See Reuters checks on similar claims here and here .

False. There is no evidence that getting a flu vaccine increases the risk of getting COVID-19. Dr. Oz was referring to the flu increasing the chances of transmission of COVID-19, not the flu vaccine.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work  here  .

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.