www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/22/flu-jabs-could-fail-winter-due-covid-emergency-experts-warn/
There are fears that a mismatched flu vaccine, coupled with waning immunity, high levels of Covid and the NHS backlog, could quickly lead to the health service being overwhelmed this winter.
Dr Beverly Taylor, Head of Influenza Scientific Affairs and WHO lead, at vaccine maker Seqirus, which provides Britain with seasonal flu jabs, said: “We saw quite a big reduction in the labs supplying the genetic sequence data to WHO, and around September last year, we saw a 94 per cent drop in the genetic sequence data that was reported into the database. So this has had a massive impact in the reporting.
“We could have reduced the opportunity to identify viruses as they emerge. We certainly have reduced the opportunity to look at which viruses would give the best overall protection and the best coverage of all the circulating viruses.
“What we're actually seeing is influenza in geographical pockets, so it’s very difficult for us to tell which one is going to be the winner. We could potentially see a mismatch for at least one of the subtypes. And so that's cause for concern.
“This winter, it’s going to be over 18 months since most of us have seen influenza and there is concern that we'll see a lower level of population immunity.”