Flu vaccine worked well in season that faded fast, CDC says

flu seasons have been unusually mild or otherwise strange since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020

That is an interesting observation and possible explanations are beyond the scope of this article unfortunately.

Might I suggest that changes in social activity and adoption of precautions intended to reduce risk from airborne infections (masks etc) are the main reason.

Others reasons are of course possible, but explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements are always the most logical.

Fortunately the situation in the US was better than anticipated and the selection of strains a good match for those that were prevalent. The lack of good data thanks to the disruption of transmission from the anti-covid measures made this selection much less reliable than usual so this is proof epidemiologists did an excellent work.

Still, as mentioned influenza is a particularly difficult target for vaccines thanks to the endless amount of recombination of the antigens between strains and the ease of its transmission, better vaccines against it are necessary to make them much more efficient, but fortunately new technologies have given promising results and we may get a real universal vaccine against influenza in the near future.

40% effective??? wow what a waste of time and money!

Officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective.

If the officials are happy, Elvis is happy.

40% effective??? wow what a waste of time and money!

For patients of influenza, that have a terrible time with the disease, many times require hospitalization and can even die from it this is definitely not a waste of neither time nor money. It even makes economic sense when you factor how much of both things are lost during the influenza season.

Hey at least the drug companies are making lots of money for something that is as effective as a placebo...

Effective as a placebo

You might want to find out what placebo means.

Immunization is a global health and development success story, saving millions of lives every year. Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defences to build protection. When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds.

https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccines-and-immunization#tab=tab_1

Hardly placebo by any rational stretch of the imagination

I can't recall ever having had a flu shot. Maybe if a particularly nasty strain comes along I'd consider it, as long as it's not an mRNA jab.

I can't recall ever having had a flu shot. 

Get mine each year. During my young phase, got flu a long time ago and it FUBARed me.

Not a pleasant experience. Worst was after recovery and going back to work. Imagine same as long covid.

Nobody needs anything till sickness happens.

Better be prepared as Marmaduke now admits. Progress indeed. Congratulations.

An underwhelming vaccine.

JimizoToday  12:18 pm JST

So you can't argue the point, you just play the idiotic guilt by association game. Typical

You don’t work in this area and clearly can’t claim expertise in this area and neither can I. 

I was just observing that those who argue as you do on this point display an uncanny uniformity of thought on unrelated issues. This is suspicious. 

What are your sources for your claims here? Given you have no expertise in this area, this is a fundamental point.

You don't have to be an expert in an area to smell BS. And there are loads of experts in this field who have been calling out malfeasance by the pharmaceutical companies, health authorities, governments and media for the last three years, but are censored for doing so instead of being allowed to openly debate the issues one on one in public with the authorities and experts who disagree with them. Al you're trying to do is conflate people who don't swallow the offical covid narrative with flat-earthers and whatever other "denier" slur you can come up with. Scientists argue about stuff in their field all the time, so to believe there's one source of truth - consensus as virusrex claims - is abjectly ridiculous. What's going on now is essentially branding anyone who has the temerity to doubt what the officials say as heretics. This includes doctors who who've pushed back after noticing strong adverse reactions in their patients. They've been threatened with disciplinary action/deregistration for publicly questioning the safety of these jabs. That's insane. This treatment has even been proposed as law in California.

I and plenty of other people here have posted links to credible studies and articles that show the covid vaccines have a dubious safety record, but they are invariably deleted, giving the vax proponents a chance to argue that we don't supply evidence. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the moderators.

As for the flu jabs, I'm m not fussed one way or the other, and as I said above, might take one if the risk/benefit balance is favourable and it's not an mRNA concoction.

I and plenty of other people here have posted links to credible studies and articles that show the covid vaccines have a dubious safety record,

That is strange. I have yet to see or read any.

You don't have to be an expert in an area to smell BS

The problem is that the experts in the area say your personal beliefs are wrong, but unable to accept this you persist in pushing those debunked personal beliefs without ever even making an attempt to defend them with arguments.

And there are loads of experts in this field who have been calling out malfeasance by the pharmaceutical companies, health authorities, governments and media for the last three years, but are censored for doing so instead of being allowed to openly debate the issues one on one in public with the authorities and experts who disagree with them

That is false, those that are discarded from the discussion simply are doing the same you are, pushing for things that have no evidence to support them or even worse, things that have been disproved by evidence. You have never explained how you have been completely unable to find even one single recognized institution of medicine or science that support your personal views, obviously it is not rational to think they are all (as in all over the world) in a conspiracy, that would be an unbelievable argument to have.

When the only references you find are debunked reports, baseless opinions on videos and retracted studies with falsified data this should be proof enough who is in the right here.

 on now is essentially branding anyone who has the temerity to doubt what the officials say as heretics. This includes doctors who who've pushed back after noticing strong adverse reactions in their patients.

When those doctors fail to provide evidence these "adverse reactions" are more prevalent in vaccinated people compared with unvaccinated ones it is obvious they are just pushing baseless personal beliefs as well. That evidence should be the first thing they should have before making conclusions.

CDC says? Must be so.

CDC says? Must be so.

CDC shows the data that proves so, do you have anyting to contradict it?

—The vaccine was 44% effective in preventing adult lab-confirmed flu visits to urgent care clinics and hospital emergency rooms, and 39% effective for seniors age 65 and older.

No thanks,

Staying healthy is my primary concern.

No thanks,

Staying healthy is my primary concern.

The second statement is disproved by the first.

No thanks,

Staying healthy is my primary concern.

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to help people saying healthy, rejecting the vaccines means your primary concern would be to defend a mistaken belief, even if that means increasing the risks for your health.