If there has been very little flu this winter, how will flu vaccination for the southern hemisphere work in 2021?

[turquoisewaters]

I did not want to hijack another thread, so I'll start a new one

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/flu-cases-covid-england-phe-latest-b1805124.html

I was wondering how this would work for the flu vaccination in 2021? How would they work out which strains to vaccinate against if flu in the northern hemisphere has been so scarce?

Hoping that someone knowledgeable will come along

No idea. It's an interesting question though.

Yes, I was wondering as I have acquaintances who are getting the Covid vaccine in the southern hemisphere and are working out timelines of how long they will have to wait to be vaccinated against flu afterwards. And the issue of there being very few cases of flu in the north came up

Yes I've been wondering how next year's vax will plan out and whether next year we will have a bad flu season

Whatever the most common strains were previously should work as of there is very little flu then there is very little opportunity for it to mutate. Just like we might not have had the Kent strain if the government hadn't let covid run rampant.

Thanks! @QueenStromba

It makes sense

We'll soon find out. There was a massive push by government before May last year for take-up of the flu vaccine.

My school offers it free for staff.

I’m one of the sods who managed to catch bloody flu this year 😭 in January during lockdown. After the flu jab. I’m 30. Ended up in bloody hospital 🤦🏼‍♀️ I hope they can use my data 😂

Although me catching flu doesn’t match that article.. I caught it first week in Jan, maybe I fall outside the data?! I had a blood test in hospital that confirmed it?!

@MoirasRoses

That's awful! Really unlucky! I hope you feel better now

Ah is this how they know what flu vaccines to develop? Because of what strains are developing in the opposite hemisphere. I always wondered as they say they look at what strains are going to be prevalent and I was like from where? Crystal ball? Large encyclopaedia?