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FDA meeting to pick next winter's flu shot is canceled, in ominous sign for US
- tayo42 2y agoDon't want to sign up. Are we not going to get a flu vaccine? Companies that make the vaccines can't do this on their own anyway?
- fzeroracer 2y agoThe flu vaccines target specific strains that they expect to be common during flu season. In order to do this, the FDA collaborates with a bunch of different agencies and groups around the world to do collect data, track flu viruses etc. The sort of thing that a government agency is generally really good at doing and companies are generally really bad at. Normally it's around this time period that decisions around which strains to target are discussed, because it takes around six months to incubate the vaccine. Then once a decision is made, that information is passed to manufacturers. Without this meeting, there's no guidance around which strains to target. Without guidance, manufacturers have no clue what to do. So the odds are it either highly delays the vaccine if not promptly rescheduled or we simply just don't get one this season.
- triceratops 2y ago> manufacturers have no clue what to do. Sounds like bad news. But can the manufacturers meet among themselves to hash it out? Would they? And if they did, would they make a worse or different decision than if the FDA were involved? Just trying to see a way this could turn out ok.
- aceazzameen 2y agoI'm pretty sure manufacturers could, but that would increase their costs. The US did it for them for free. So we're either going to get insanely expensive flu vaccines or none at all.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- stubish 2y agoThe decisions will still be made, but by other Northern Hemisphere countries. Manufacturing might remain local, since the infrastructure is there. Or maybe that will get shutdown if it is cheaper to ship from India or China.
- wrs 2y agoThis is absolutely idiotic behavior on the part of the government. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement within the week that the manufacturers are having their own meeting. They aren’t going to destroy years of goodwill and a thriving vaccine business just because a total flake got put in charge of the FDA for what is hopefully a limited time.
- techorange 2y agoIs there a strategy here, or is this all emotional. Or is the strategy like, we can reduce social security spending if more old people die of the flu? This isn't entirely cynical, I do assume there are some pragmatists who might think this way.
- dekhn 2y agoThere is no strategy here except to disempower the establishment.
- cantrecallmypwd 2y agoThey are the establishment. The goal is destruction of government for tax breaks.
- dekhn 2y agoNo, Trump etc are not the establishment. They are effectively a foreign invader that the immune system of the establishment wants to evict. But we've reached cordyceps levels of infection at this point. If you want to see the establishment's viewpoints, read the NY Times (the news articles, and analysis, but not the op-eds).
- red-iron-pine 2y agothe GOP has been pulling for this since the HW Bush era. dismantling the Dept of Education, reducing spending across all areas, reducing government involvement in healthcare -- take a look at the Fortune 100 list and see how many healthcare companies are in the top ranks -- have been top priorities for decades. they're just saying the quiet part loud now, and acting on it.
- awnird 2y ago[flagged]
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- Havoc 2y agoLast I spoke to a nurse about this she explained something interesting to me - in selecting the next flu shot they actually watch the opposite hemisphere to predict most likely strain to vax. So despite US shenanigans rest of world may still be OK
- _heimdall 2y agoBoth hemispheres do this if I'm not mistaken. They look to the other hemisphere's winter and expect that 6 month delay will still help predict what's coming.
- seanmcdirmid 2y agoFlu strains usually originate from Asia (usually China), where flu is more likely to jump from chicken to human. But that was in the past, it is completely possible that the USA could move backwards in health and become the new spot where flu jumps to humans (eg by not culling flocks where infections are found because of rising egg prices). Trump could do a lot of damage in four years, we might end up completely flipped from where were a decade ago by the end of it (China as the preeminent respected world power, the USA as a big nation of unvaxed people where bird flu jumps to humans, Fujian Type N flu is replaced with Tenesee type M flu)
- _heimdall 2y agoYou're making a lot of assumptions here. China has seemed to play a larger role in novel viruses with zoological origins. The average flu season isn't driven by novel viruses, if they were every year would progress more similarly to CoV2. I've never seen a study comparing the relative efficacy of culling vs. not culling chicken flocks. Unless you have sources for that, you're assuming culling is always best. One consideration there is that culling entire flocks ensures that we are never able to select breeding animals based on those with natural immunity. Maybe that is the right choice, but I don't think we have ever studied that. Egg prices haven't yet seemed to play an impact in flock culling rates. We have murdered 166 million birds based on a recent article [1] - extremely few of those were ever tested, they just happened to be in a house with a bird either confirmed or suspected of infection. At least based on that article, culling hasn't helped contain the outbreak. [1] https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-02-26/poultry-culling-hasnt-stopped-h5n1-bird-flu https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-02-26/poultry...
- jmclnx 2y agoWell I guess once the Bird Flu jumps to Humans, which due to Trump's and Musk's Stupidity will happen, and next years flu arrival we will have another yet another Trump Caused pandemic.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- cantrecallmypwd 2y agoTo be fair, a fair share of pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and climate change common root cause is industrial meat agriculture. Ano-ochlo-kleptocrats are and will screw up the basis of organized civilization in America because they don't know anything about anything.
- blooalien 2y ago> ... "because they don't know anything about anything." And because like Trump and Musk, many (most?) of them truly believe they know more about everything than anyone else (more than even the experts).
- fzeroracer 2y agoThis is a remarkably stupid decision. Flu vaccines are incredibly successful not just from a public health standpoint but also a business productivity standpoint. I guess we're going to relearn this lesson the hard way. Especially with businesses also demanding people come back to the office to work.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jghn 2y ago> Flu vaccines are incredibly successfu A big part of the problem is a lot of people don't understand this. How often do you hear people say, "I got the flu vaccine and still got the flu". However, most people who say they have "the flu" are using the term colloquially and it is unlikely that they actually had influenza. Further, as we saw with the COVID vaccines, people are incapable of understanding that vaccines don't create an impenetrable barrier. Instead it lowers risk of infection and increases likelihood of a milder case.
- CodeWriter23 2y ago[flagged]
- seanmcdirmid 2y agoI got a really bad flu last year because I delayed my shots. At 48, it was nothing like I experienced when I was younger, just mucus filling my chest for a week, uncomfortable to breathe with a scratchy wheeze. I don’t mind getting the flu I got when I was younger, but I will get my vaccinations on time to avoid going through that again. I get how flu vaccines become more important as you age, COVID also (lest you win a Herman Caine award). Younger people getting vaccinated also helps limit transmission to older people who are more likely to die from it, but doing so requires a bit more empathy than just pure self interest.
- SmirkingRevenge 2y agoHopefully we do relearn, and don't just unlearn.
- pfannkuchen 2y agoPresumably it may be rescheduled? Let's say personnel is in flux at the moment. Might make sense to bump out an important meeting until things stabilize? There is so much breathless hysteria in the media predicting or implying a prediction, and when 99% of it fails to materialize there is never a follow up.
- biophysboy 2y agoWhat media coverage would you approve of?
- dashundchen 2y agoWell considering the FDA gave no information or plans to reschedule to committee members that seems unlikely. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/politics/fda-flu-vaccine.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/politics/fda-flu-vacci... > The F.D.A. sent an email to members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Monday afternoon informing them of the cancellation, according to a senior official familiar with the decision. There was no reason given. The panel was to meet March 13. > One committee member, Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, an outspoken critic of Mr. Kennedy, confirmed the cancellation and warned that it could interfere with or delay production of flu vaccines. > “It’s a six-month production cycle,” Dr. Offit said. “So one can only assume that we’re not picking flu strains this year.” Considering the flu kills tens of thousands every year and hospitalized hundreds of thousands more, with the potential of evolving to be more lethal - yes this is important. If the Trump, GOP and Musk fucked up staffing by firing people who have the expertise to make these decisions, yes they are at fault. If RFK Jr is interfering with this for his anti-vax and anti-science crusade, he is also at vault.
- exceptoneyear 2y ago[flagged]
- pfannkuchen 2y ago> “So one can only assume” They are “assuming” a major unannounced policy change based on… a single meeting cancelation. By this cause/effect protocol, I have personally witnessed dozens of multi billion dollar project cancellations, or so I assume. RFK Jr has never proposed canning the vaccine program. He wants certain studies performed, which presumably would run in parallel with the existing program. The constant hysteria really makes me want to quit the internet. It seems to get worse every year.
- frogperson 2y ago[flagged]
- rad_gruchalski 2y agoThey want your money. Nothing to do with MAGA. They “cut” federal spending and fire people from their jobs while MElon makes $100b since December.
- gonzo 2y agohow does canceling a meeting to pick a flu strain for development of a flu vaccine help them to acquire money?
- dartos 2y agoDepends who was in the meeting.
- NewJazz 2y agoDon't have to pay for flu vaccines for medicare/medicaid, because they are "unsafe"
- jrs235 2y agoIf a bunch of old people on Social Security die several years early due to influenza... Yay! They saved money and extended Social Security! Or can raid it for other things...
- _heimdall 2y agoIt seems like the bigger win financially would be back room deals with pharmaceutical companies selling the next vaccine. Saving money on social security because more unhealthy people died doesn't directly make anyone in charge any more rich. Unless I missed something you can't short Social Security liabilities.
- rad_gruchalski 2y ago
- clcaev 2y agoHopefully a coalition of states picks up what the feds abandon.
- creer 2y agoThere are even other countries on the planet.
- georgemcbay 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jpcookie 2y ago[dead]
- TrueGeek 2y agohttps://archive.ph/y0EFo https://archive.ph/y0EFo