October 29, 2009 Misconception: H1N1 vaccine isn't safe Play video

(NECN) - The goal of NECN's H1N1 two-hour special is to sort out all the misinformation in an interactive fashion. To help in answering viewer questions, NECN enlisted a panel of experts with knowledge on the H1N1 vaccine and the disease itself.

Experts include:

• Dr. Anita Barry, Boston Public Health commissioner
• Dr. Gwenn O'Keefe, CEO/editor-in-chief, Pediatrics Now
• Dr. Richard Zane, Brigham & Women's Hospital vice chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
• Dr. Myechia Jordan, CEO Dimock Community Health Center
• Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, N.H. deputy state epidemiologist
• Dr. Anita Barry, Boston Public Health Commission

In this first segment, these experts shared some of the biggest misconceptions they have heard about H1N1.

"The biggest misconception people have is that they can actually get influenza from getting the vaccine, and that's just not true," Dr. Barry said. "Influenza vaccine -- the shot that you get is pieces of killed virus, and the one you get up your nose is a very weakened virus. It does take two weeks for that vaccine to work in your body, but you cannot get influenza from getting the vaccine."

"In reality it was made in the in exactly the same way that influenza or seasonal flu vaccine was made," Dr. Zane said.