Flu vaccinations are up after last year's bad season

How do you get more people to get flu shots? A bad flu season will do the trick, it seems. There’s been a significant increase in influenza vaccine uptake this year compared to last, according to the CDC. By mid-November, the rate of children vaccinated was up nearly 7 percentage points over the same time last year and adult vaccinations were up 6.4 percentage points. But it’s too soon to tell whether more people will be vaccinated this year.

In other flu news, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority published a new study showing that bird flu vaccine made over a decade ago is still safe to use and is effective in generating an immune response. Typically, a flu vaccine is used within the year it is made. But BARDA has been making and stockpiling vaccines to protect against possible pandemic viruses and tests them periodically to see if they are still viable.