Despite CDC Claims, Flu Vaccine Failed to Protect Against Severe Outcomes

Written by Dr Peter McCullough MD, MPH on January 26, 2024. Posted in Current News

Almost like Christmas time for the Influenza vaccine companies, the CDC declared National Influenza Vaccination Week from December 4-8, 2023, a “reminder for everyone 6 months and older that there’s still time to get a flu vaccine this season.”

Many of my patients ask, does the flu-shot really work?

For any therapeutic, we require large prospective, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials and need to see at least a 20 percent relative risk reduction in a meaningful outcome such as hospitalization or death.

Because the vaccine industry by convention does not do large RCTS for influenza vaccine anticipating the strain formula will change, we are left with non-randomized observational studies, usually written by CDC authors who are vaccine promoters.

The calculated vaccine efficacy tends to over-estimate benefit. For my practice, a vaccine would have to give at least 50 percent protection against a significant outcome such as hospitalization and death to get my recommendation.

Does the latest flu-shot make the cut?

Tenforde et al from the CDC published a recent study from the VISION Network.

“This study from the VISION Network included healthcare encounters between 16 October 2022 and 31 March 2023 in 3 large health systems with integrated clinical, laboratory, and vaccination data in 4 states (Kaiser Permanente Northern California [KPNC], Intermountain Healthcare [IH] in Utah, and HealthPartners [HP] in Minnesota and Wisconsin).

VISION’s study sites and methods used to evaluate influenza VE have been previously described [2]. In summary, using a test negative case-control study design, among adults =18 years age with an acute respiratory illness (ARI)–associated ED/UC encounter or hospitalization who underwent molecular testing for influenza (eg, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction), we estimated VE by comparing the odds of current season influenza vaccination among those who tested positive for influenza A (case-patients) with those who tested negative for influenza A and B (controls). All influenza testing was clinician-initiated.”

Influenza accounted for 17 percent of all viral respiratory infections with ~75 percent usually known to be influenza A and the rest, ~25 percent influenza B. Only 9.5 percent of respiratory hospitalizations were due to influenza, but sadly, 52.8 percent were fully vaccinated for the flu.

As you can see the vaccine efficacy for protection against hospitalization was a disappointing 35 percent. No data are reported on transmission.

The vaccine did not stop the flu or its spread. Thus by using the evidence and not CDC false claims, the influenza vaccine is marginally protective at best against hospitalization and death and no reason to think it will help you protect others.

So you can make your own informed choice this year late into the season.

See more here substack.com

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