Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

haley_bridgewater t1_iwrcncv wrote

The influenza vaccine is a trade off, like many things in our life. Scientists try to predict the strains that most people will be exposed to during the flu season and put those into the vaccine. For each strain added, we increase the cost of production and more importantly, each strain increases the load on your immune system. More strains might result in multiple shots needed, which decreases the number of people who get fully vaccinated. Or it could cause side effects, similar to what we have seen with the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which will decrease the number of people who get the yearly vaccine. Luckily, scientists are working on a universal influenza vaccine. This type of vaccine would vaccinate against a protein on the influenza virus that doesn't change. This would mean protection from more strains, as well as less frequent vaccination.

14