California health officials warn of winter respiratory infection surge

California health officials are warning of a winter surge in respiratory infections, including COVID-19, RSV, and the flu, and are encouraging residents to get vaccinated. Some social media users are claiming that vaccines are making people sick and causing the surge.

Risk level: Medium

Recommendation: These types of social media posts in response to vaccine guidance may promote vaccine hesitancy during the height of respiratory virus season. Doctors in California may face questions about vaccine safety and efficacy. Talking points may emphasize that across multiple studies, vaccines and their ingredients have been shown to be safe; that adverse reactions to vaccines are extremely rare; and that vaccines prevent severe illness and death from vaccine-preventable diseases.