With the worst of the flu season behind us, the CDC is reviewing the effectiveness of this season’s vaccines against this year’s influenza strain,
Vaccine effectiveness for late 2025 and early 2026 in preventing outpatient visits and hospitalization for children was pegged as low as just 14 percent only reaching 48 percent, , Dr. Lisa Grohskopf with the CDC’s Influenza Division told a meeting hosted by the Food and Drug Administration.
The shielding among adults overall was even worse–just 22 percent to 34 percent, she said, based on data from CDC networks in 16 states.
Vaccine effectiveness since 2009 has dropped as low as 19 percent rebounding in the 2024–25 virus season to 56 percent, the CDC reports.
Grohskopf said the reasons behind the decline from the prior season are not yet clear. Factors could include a mismatch between strains in the vaccines and the strains that ended up circulating.
Most influenza cases in recent months have been caused by influenza A viruses, particularly aH3N2 subvariant called subclade K.
Grohskopf said the data are preliminary and could end up changing.
William Gruner, representing Department of War scientists, told the same meeting that vaccine effectiveness among department networks against influenza-like illness from Nov. 9, 2025, through Feb. 21, 2026, was only 46 percent among adults.
The committee later unanimously voted to advise the FDA to have vaccine manufacturers move forward with updated influenza shots that target two influenza A viruses. Global authorities typically release updated strain recommendations once or twice a year in a bid to improve the effectiveness of flu vaccines by trying to predict which strains will be circulating in the future.
Despite effective rates below 50 percent, the CDC said on its website that vaccination “has been shown to reduce the risk of flu and its potentially serious complications.”
The Epoch Times News Service | Zachary Stieber
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