To persuade the public that a given vaccine is beneficial, officials must show that it is effective—in other words, that it is able to “prevent outcomes of interest in the ‘real world.’”

In part three of ourVaccine Failures series, we take a look at the many failures of the influenza vaccination including the many factors that can lessen influenza vaccine effectiveness, the influenza vaccination’s inability to deliver meaningful benefits and its propensity to create new problems:

• Failure #1: Influenza vaccination has been 40%-90% ineffective over the past 15 years.
• Failure #2: Influenza vaccine effectiveness is highly inconsistent and ignores immune system complexities.
• Failure #3: Influenza vaccine effectiveness dwindles with repeated vaccination.
• Failure #4: Influenza vaccines can increase recipients’ susceptibility to non-vaccine influenza viruses and other acute infections.
• Failure #5: Many influenza vaccine researchers are disingenuous or worse when they report on vaccine effectiveness.
• Failure #6: Flu vaccine hype is just that—hype.

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Is the annual flu vaccine sales pitch (evident not just in the U.S. but around the world) working? Given predictions of a 50% increase in the global influenza vaccine market by 2023 (from $5 billion to $7.5 billion), it would seem so. On the other hand, recent estimates of influenza vaccine coverage in U.S. adults show that Americans are growing more, rather than less, skeptical. In 2017-2018, influenza vaccine coverage fell for every adult age group (and all but one racial/ethnic group), reaching the lowest level in eight flu seasons. While influenza researchers may be “hesitant to discuss problems with the vaccine ‘because they’re afraid of being tainted with the antivaccine brush,’” the bottom line is flu shots are big business and vaccine injuries aren't rare.

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For more information: CHD Flu Brochure 2019-2020 and more