Vaccinations for people with COPD

3) Influenza vaccine – how it’s given

A doctor giving a young man a vaccination injection in the upper arm.

© Crown copyright 2014

  • The flu vaccine is not a live vaccine so it cannot give you flu.
  • The vaccine will not cause an exacerbation or flare up of your symptoms.
  • It is given annually by injection to the upper outer area of the arm and it takes only seconds. The injection itself is not painful.
  • Possible side effects include pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, also occasionally slight fever, shivering, headache and aching muscles.
  • These symptoms usually disappear within one to two days without any treatment.