{"id":2581216,"date":"2026-03-18T08:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-years-flu-vaccine-only-worked-for-an-unusually-small-fraction-of-recipients-cdc-admits\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T08:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:43:13","slug":"this-years-flu-vaccine-only-worked-for-an-unusually-small-fraction-of-recipients-cdc-admits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-years-flu-vaccine-only-worked-for-an-unusually-small-fraction-of-recipients-cdc-admits\/","title":{"rendered":"This Year&#8217;s Flu Vaccine Only Worked for an Unusually Small Fraction of Recipients, CDC Admits"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthis-years-flu-vaccine-only-worked-for-an-unusually-small-fraction-of-recipients-cdc-admits%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2581216&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>As warmer weather arrives, flu season is easing, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-challenging-a-belief-system-is-nearly-impossible\/\" title=\"Why Challenging a Belief System Is Nearly Impossible\">flu vaccine\u2019<\/a>s effectiveness has fallen sharply due to a new strain that wasn\u2019t well matched to the vaccine. The CDC and Associated Press report that this season\u2019s vaccination was among the least effective in decades, contributing to an intense early surge of illness. In adults 18 and older, vaccine effectiveness was about 22% to 34%, while children under 18 fared somewhat better at 38% to 41%-all at the lower end of the typical 40%-60% target.<\/p>\n<p>The CDC estimated that from October 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026, there were about 26 million illnesses, 340,000 hospitalizations, and 21,000 deaths from influenza in the United States. Among those who died, at least 101 were children, with around 85% of those deaths occurring in children not fully vaccinated against the flu. Despite the low efficacy, health officials still strongly recommend vaccination because it can reduce medically attended illnesses and hospitalizations. By February 21, 2026, fewer than half of U.S. adults and children had received the 2025-26 influenza vaccine, but past seasons show that even with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-gates-investing-40-million-for-mrna-vaccine-development-in-africa\/\" title=\"Bill Gates to invest M in Africa for mRNA ... development.\">modest effectiveness<\/a>, vaccines have prevented thousands of hospitalizations and deaths. For example, the 2022-23 season had about 30% effectiveness but still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abbott-doubles-down-on-texas-border-barrier-we-doubled-the-amount-of-razor-wire\/\" title=\"Abbott strengthens Texas border barrier: &#039;Razor wire amount doubled&#039;\">prevented tens<\/a> of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The good news: As the weather is turning warmer, flu season is officially headed off a cliff.<\/p>\n<p>The bad news: The efficacy of the flu vaccine is also, apparently, falling off a cliff.<\/p>\n<p>In an alarming admission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials admitted that this most recent round of flu vaccinations proved to be the least effective in quite some time.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/flu-season-cdc-subclade-k-vaccination-11952f89201d2396ec0c52461441c82b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associated Press<\/a>, the primary reason for this was a new strain of influenza that &ldquo;was not well matched to the vaccine.&rdquo; This apparently contributed to an &ldquo;intense early onslaught&rdquo; of the illness.<\/p>\n<p>(This new strain apparently spread more easily, as opposed to exhibiting worse symptoms.)<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The CDC&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/75\/wr\/mm7509a2.htm?s_cid=OS_mm7509a2_w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> painted a bleak picture for adults who had been vaccinated against the flu.<\/p>\n<p>Among adults over 18 years old, the flu vaccine&rsquo;s effectiveness hovered around 22 to 34 percent.<\/p>\n<p>While children under 18 fared a bit better (38 to 41 percent effectiveness), all of the numbers sit on the lower end of the scale that health officials shoot for, per the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective,&rdquo; the outlet noted. &ldquo;Judging from past CDC research, this season saw one of the lowest effectiveness rates in the last two decades.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The CDC estimated that &ldquo;at least 26,000,000 illnesses, 340,000 hospitalizations, and 21,000 deaths resulting from influenza occurred in the United States during October 1, 2025&ndash;February 28, 2026.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Among those broader statistics, the Associated Press noted that at &ldquo;least 101 children have died so far this season.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The outlet added that about 85 percent of those deaths involved children not fully vaccinated against the flu (among those whose vaccination status was known).<\/p>\n<p>Despite the less-than-ideal efficacy levels, the CDC still strongly recommends getting the flu vaccine, as it can help reduce the risk of flu-related outpatient visits and hospitalizations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As of February 21, 2026, fewer than one half of U.S. adults and children had received a 2025&ndash;26 influenza vaccine,&rdquo; the CDC said. &ldquo;Influenza vaccination can <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >prevent medically attended illnesses<\/a> and serious disease that might result in hospitalization or death.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The government entity also implored people that even when vaccine effectiveness is lower than the ideal, &ldquo;influenza vaccination has prevented thousands of hospitalizations and deaths.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The CDC then claimed that in the 2022-23 flu season, vaccine effectiveness was just 30 percent, &ldquo;yet influenza vaccines prevented an estimated 71,000 hospitalizations and 4,300 deaths.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The flu vaccine is not guaranteed to protect everyone from getting sick, though it can purportedly lessen the effects of influenza.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ]; 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( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a paraphrase of the main content (excluding the code and form elements):<\/p>\n<p>As warmer days arrive, flu season is fading, but the flu shot\u2019s effectiveness is dropping sharply. The CDC acknowledged that this latest vaccination round was among the least effective in years, mainly because a new influenza strain wasn\u2019t a good match for the vaccine. This mismatch appears to have driven a strong early wave of illness, though it didn\u2019t necessarily lead to worse symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>For adults over 18, the vaccine\u2019s effectiveness was about 22-34%, while children under 18 fared a bit better at roughly 38-41%; overall, these figures sit toward the lower end of the target range officials aim for. Health authorities generally consider 40-60% effectiveness to be good, and this season\u2019s results are among the lowest seen in the past two decades. The CDC estimated that, from October 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026, there were up to 26 million illnesses, about 340,000 hospitalizations, and around 21,000 deaths from influenza in the United States. At least 101 children died so far this season, with most of those deaths occurring among children who were not fully vaccinated (where vaccination status was known).<\/p>\n<p>Despite the lower effectiveness, the CDC still strongly recommends getting the flu vaccine because it can reduce the risk of flu-related outpatient visits and hospitalizations. By late February 2026, fewer than half of U.S. adults and children had received the 2025-26 flu vaccine. Vaccination can prevent medically attended illnesses and serious disease that might lead to hospitalization or death. The agency noted that even when vaccine effectiveness is not ideal, vaccines have historically prevented thousands of hospitalizations and deaths. For the 2022-23 season, the vaccine was about 30% effective, yet it prevented an estimated 71,000 hospitalizations and 4,300 deaths. A flu vaccine does not guarantee protection, but it can lessen the impact of influenza<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2581217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-17T214522.955.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50443,76051,76052],"class_list":["post-2581216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cdc-2","tag-flu-vaccine","tag-vaccine-efficacy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-17T214522.955.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2581216"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2581224,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581216\/revisions\/2581224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2581217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2581216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2581216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2581216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}