A new report says flu vaccine is not as effective as public
health messaging suggests and new and better vaccines are
needed. The report suggests the current vaccines offer moderate
protection some years and less in others. The authors say the
problem is that having a vaccine that is deemed good enough is a
disincentive for the industry to develop longer-lasting and more
effective flu shots — especially given that better vaccines
would likely cost significantly more. The report of the CIDRAP
Comprehensive Influenza Vaccine Initiative was written by public
health experts at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research
and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The authors strongly
advocate for major investments to develop new flu vaccines but
say in the meantime, people should continue to use the currently
available shots. It questions many of the dogmas that are
accepted about flu vaccine, including that vaccinating children
will protect the elderly, who don’t mount a good immune response
to flu vaccine. As we