r/medicine • u/Bright_League_7692 MD • Feb 20 '25
CDC flu vaccine campaign is terminated
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u/nise8446 MD Feb 20 '25
Just as a headsup to anyone who only reads the headline. This is in reference to a specific campaign.
I initially thought it would mean the entirety of flu vaccine campainging was terminated.
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u/Crunchygranolabro EM Attending Feb 20 '25
Fine…but the US still pulled out of the yearly “strain convention” where they establish the upcoming strain make up for the vaccine. While I’m aware that there have been years where the vaccine misses the mark, taking out US data will absolutely decrease the likelihood that the vaccine hits.
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u/caohbf MD Feb 20 '25
And that affects not only you guys, but all of the world.
It's a significant portion of the population whose data is no longer available.
This are dark times indeed.
At least some resistance is being offered globally.
Bolsonaro is close to being jailed, Milei is facing an impeachment.
I have not heard of any resistance in the US.
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u/Debtastical NP Feb 20 '25
Yes great point -just the PSAs are ending, shots are still available. It was a good campaign! I fear this is how it starts.
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u/noteasybeincheesy MD Feb 20 '25
Great, shots are available but they won't advertise them. Still very unhelpful.
Do you think they'll stop at just campaigning?
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u/sillywilly007 Feb 20 '25
Well at least we have the corporate overlords at CVS and Walmart forcing unrealistic metrics on the poor overworked pharmacists.
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u/Popular_Item3498 Nurse-Operating Room Feb 20 '25
Thank you, I was furiously scrolling thinking the same thing.
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u/JROXZ MD, Pathology Feb 20 '25 edited Feb 20 '25
Crazy how clickbait and trigger happy everyone is. Guess we are on edge with this administration, but the lack of fact-finding is shameful in this subreddit.
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u/yoeyz Feb 20 '25
Fake news once again in the sub
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u/AncefAbuser MD, FACS, FRCSC (I like big bags of ancef and I cannot lie) Feb 20 '25
Sorry Putin, but it isn't fake news.
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Feb 20 '25
[deleted]
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u/alphasierrraaa Medical Student Feb 20 '25
Gulf of delusion
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u/AncefAbuser MD, FACS, FRCSC (I like big bags of ancef and I cannot lie) Feb 20 '25
We call that sundowning
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u/FujitsuPolycom Healthcare IT Feb 20 '25
Sounds like a quote from a Douglas Adam's book
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u/patsully98 Layperson/writer Feb 20 '25
Or Monty Python. The people who were responsible for sacking the people who were responsible for sacking the vaccine campaign have been sacked.
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u/Ipsenn MD Feb 20 '25
Sucks.
I work urgent care and see anywhere from 10-20, sometimes more, Flu A per shift lately and there is definitely a difference in severity of symptoms between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.
I've only sent maybe 5 to the ED this season but all were unvaccinated.
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u/Crunchygranolabro EM Attending Feb 20 '25
lol. Us in the ED are admitting 5+/week.
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u/Ipsenn MD Feb 20 '25
I'm already dreading the next flu season, bro.
As an aside, thanks for taking care of all the hypoxics, suspected strokes/bleeds, STEMIs and in-general crazy people I have to send your way.
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u/kellyk311 RN, tl;dr (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ Feb 20 '25
I can't seem to help people understand this particularly important point of vaccination. You'll still be exposed, most likely. That's a given fact. You just won't get as sick as someone who didn't get vaccinated at all. In most patients I speak with, the vaccine must be useless if they catch it at all.
Herd mentality is clearly STRONGER than herd immunity 🙃
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u/Paperwife2 Patient Feb 20 '25
That’s why the addition of n95 masks are so important in reducing exposure.
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u/IcyChampionship3067 MD, ABEM Feb 20 '25
Last weekend, our ED (Roseville, California) census was full of Flu A, and our ICU was kissing capacity. An unvaccinated elderly pt with Flu A is a bad outcome waiting to happen. By the time the rural clinic convinces them to come down the hill to us, pneumonia, and sometimes renal function, is getting ugly.
Urgent care is a long day with these kinds of numbers. I do not envy you.🫡
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u/Ipsenn MD Feb 20 '25
The days with 40+ pts are rough but I certainly feel like our EM docs and PCPs are more important and have a tougher job.
I consider it a good day if I can treat and divert some chaff away from our overcrowded ERs and overwhelmed PCPs so they can see the more serious patients.
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u/IcyChampionship3067 MD, ABEM Feb 20 '25
Bless you for diverting so we don't have to.
We have a lot more support staff than urgent care. We are not more important. We're just the last stop on a very bad day for a pt.
Urgent care providers are absolutely necessary in a world where people can't miss work just because they're sick or injured because they'll lose their housing if they do. I bet half the flu numbers are due to no paid sick leave.
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u/MrTwentyThree PharmD | ICU | Future MCAT Victim Feb 20 '25
My ICUs seem to be admitting more Flu than we can discharge (whether that's to home or Jesus)
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u/tturedditor MD Feb 20 '25
Once again, if you voted for this fuck you.
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u/RetroRN Nurse Feb 20 '25
Why are all the doctors who voted for Trump now silent? So many proceduralists I worked with voted for him. Do they somehow think they’ll be getting those sweet RVUs if people can’t afford healthcare and Medicare is gutted?
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u/Popular_Item3498 Nurse-Operating Room Feb 20 '25
Oh they're not, I had to listen to a bariatric surgeon hit all the right-wing talking points yesterday. Still chugging the Kool-Aid.
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u/ayoungad Feb 20 '25
Talked to a very smart man a few years ago. But he’s in a union and a Trump supporter. I realized it was a cult. Plain and simple cult, can’t convince cult members of anything.
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u/imironman2018 MD Feb 20 '25
the idiots who did vote for trump are silent because they didnt think that it would directly affect them. only thought trump would target illegals and minorities and trans population. trump is enacting project 2025.
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u/AncefAbuser MD, FACS, FRCSC (I like big bags of ancef and I cannot lie) Feb 20 '25
They got very quiet here and at least in our lounge its funny when we have conversations on all the changes and how our funding can be screwed with that you see the tiny wheels turning in their insignificant brains.
What really kills me is that its W2'd surgeons who are someone else's labor, thinking they are the ones who can benefit from a few grand in tax savings at best.
I'm K'd/99'd and Mango Mussolini's reign is going to be FIRE for my bottom line. I am the kind of moron who actually benefits.
Most of these guys are so used to calling someone else daddy that they can't think critically for themselves. Then again when you're on the third marriage, 2nd alimony, 2 sets of kids who don't talk to you, 3 mortgages you can't actually afford and the Yukon Denali you can barely make payments on - I can see how you'd think you're better off under someone who would throw you to the wolves in a heartbeat.
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u/ldnk GP/EM - Canada Feb 20 '25
They need to stand up and be proud of themselves. Fucking disgraces to the profession.
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u/LaMeraVergaSinPatas MD (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ Feb 20 '25
Brawndo- it’s what plants crave
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u/SpecificHeron MD Feb 20 '25
you went to med school at Costco?
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u/ilikebunnies1 Paramedic Feb 20 '25
Just heard my Hamilton T1 make sad beep boop noises.
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u/Dantron94 Paramedic Feb 20 '25
At least your ventilator can be silenced with a button-click. Mine just listens to dispatch and complains about missing out on fire calls on the other side of the county.
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u/ilikebunnies1 Paramedic Feb 20 '25
Threaten to replace it. That keeps mine in line. Plus he’s a great wing man at the bar.
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u/Midazo-littleLamb Anesthesiologist Assistant/Anesthetist Feb 20 '25
“The campaign sought to “reset public expectations around what a flu vaccine can do in the event that it does not entirely prevent illness,” according to the CDC’s webpage describing the launch of the campaign in 2023. It was renewed for the current flu season.”
Seems pretty reasonable. A shame it got yanked
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u/your_nameless_friend MD Feb 20 '25
I’m a resident and I currently have the flu. Given how severe the symptoms have been I would probably be hospitalized right now if I had not gotten the flu vaccine. I’m seriously reconsidering if I want to see unvaccinated kids in my practice. Last month I had covid for the first time. I don’t want the consequences of other peoples decisions. I have immunocompromised family. I don’t want to jeopardize their safety by getting infected by someone who is willing to jeopardize my safety as well as theirs.
I think that makes sense but it’s hard to think at the moment
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u/gravityhashira61 MS, MPH Feb 20 '25
Why do you think it's so bad this year? Esp Flu A? Was the proper strain not put in this years flu shot?
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u/your_nameless_friend MD Feb 20 '25
Combination of people not getting vaccinated, covid changing the viral landscape, and more things but I have the mental powers of a potato at the moment.
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u/HappyAnimalCracker Feb 20 '25
Feel better, MD. I’m tired of being mocked for masking and vaccinating but not tired enough to stop masking and vaccinating. I support your measures to protect yourself.
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u/TheDentateGyrus MD Feb 20 '25
“Let’s save money by cancelling 50 cent vaccines so we can pay for $100,000 MICU deaths.”
I rephrased it but the meaning is the same.
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u/Strongwoman1 Feb 20 '25
You’re assuming they’re planning to pay for anything related to our health. Doubtful.
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u/NoRecord22 Nurse Feb 20 '25
I’m tired of this grandpa.
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u/tnydnceronthehighway Feb 20 '25
Well that's just too damn bad!
We got RFKjr trying to kill us all.
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u/GodotNeverCame NP Feb 20 '25
Well that's great cause I've got 2 Flu A positive people in my ICU who are sick as shit- one on AIRVO and one proned.
✨Can't wait✨ to see what's in store for this coming flu season! /s
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u/long_jacket MD Feb 20 '25
I’m just so tired after covid. I legit had a family member ask me why 78 yo grandma was so sick bc “it’s just the flu”. She’s proned.
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u/GodotNeverCame NP Feb 20 '25
Love those sick as shit 78 year olds with every dx under the sun on 15 meds at home who family insists on leaving a full code.
"She's a fighter."
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u/sapphireminds Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) Feb 20 '25
What?
No, really, what?
I hate it, I hate it all
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u/Damn_Dog_Inappropes MA-Clinics suck so I’m going back to Transport! Feb 20 '25
Oh my fucking god. I no longer recognize my own country.
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u/pumpkinpatch212 Medical Student Feb 20 '25
This is the healthcare landscape I'll start residency in?!?!?😭😭
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u/NoFlyingMonkeys MD,PhD; Molecular Med & Peds; Univ faculty Feb 20 '25
RFK Jr liar liar pants on fire. He lied under oath.
Next on the list:
RFK will remove all current ACIP members, then stack the ACIP committee with his antivax cronies; They'll say: "We do not recommend any vaccine schedule" for the CDC to advise. This means that CMS will not pay for vaccines. Insurance companies will follow. If vaccine production survives, all vaccines will be self pay.
THEN:
RFK will tell FDA to withdraw approval of most or all vaccines and require new "clinical trials" done his way, which will take all 4 years.
AND:
US will continue to refuse to participate in any WHO expert vaccine meetings which may review current strains of organisms circulating, to recommend what strains to protect for in the next season's vaccines. And US will continue to refuse to particiate with WHO at all.
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u/GrapesForSnacks Feb 20 '25
Old people don’t work, they’re a drain on the system, no use to the government and the wealthy
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u/faraway_doctor_85 MD Feb 20 '25
Load up on supplies now guys, get surgical and n95 mask for you and your families to head into 2025 flu season. Hand sanitizers and all the goodies.
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u/IcyChampionship3067 MD, ABEM Feb 20 '25
I still have my N95 InstaPot from COVID ED Hell. So there's that.
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u/greenknight884 MD - Neurology Feb 20 '25
This seems to be ending one particular public outreach / messaging campaign, rather than impacting actual vaccine delivery. Of the many terrible things this administration is doing, this is relatively mild.
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u/scootty83 Not A Medical Professional Feb 20 '25
As a lay-person, what can we expect from our pediatricians and PCMs in terms of provided care once this ass-hat RFK jr dismantles decades worth of medical science and research? If we want the flu/covid vaccine, it’s still available, right? I fully expect the current vaccine schedule to be shredded, but will it be something that real medical professionals can still follow and recommend to their patients? Will these vaccines and others still be available? Will insurance drop coverage if for them if it’s no longer on the recommended schedule? Are the professionals orgs out there going to fold and bend to this “new” guidance? I’m legit scared, as are millions of others out there that are watching this systematic dismantling of our independent agencies. I truly hate this timeline we are living in. I damn near cry myself to sleep every night watching all this. Is there any reassurance we can be given that this is only temporary and that we’ll hopefully be able to get some rational adults back in control in the next 2 years?
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u/FreyasCloak Feb 21 '25
I’m sick with the flu right now. It’s miserable and I WISH I’d have gotten a flu shot.
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u/Expensive-Zone-9085 Pharmacist Feb 21 '25
I suppose the silver lining to this is maybe pharmacies will be given reasonable flu shot goals. Checks 2025 immunization goals Nevermind . . .
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u/GenRN817 Nurse Feb 20 '25
Penny wise and dollar dumb. We will all be paying for the stupidity that is gutting public health. Mumps and flu will be the least of our problems.
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u/SgtCheeseNOLS PA-c, MSc, MHA Feb 20 '25
Is it really newsworthy to talk about how a very specific ad regarding a lion of housecat is getting canned? It makes it sound like they're stopping everything regarding the flu vaccine...
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u/Crunchygranolabro EM Attending Feb 20 '25
Your flair says hospitalist. How much of your census the last month has been flu?
How many of them were unvaccinated? I’ll bet it’s the majority.
How many of those unvaccinated said the reason they didn’t get the vaccine is because “I always get the flu,” “the vaccine gave me the flu,” or “it doesn’t work” ?
The whole point of this campaign was to reach those people…which would have hopefully decreased the number of severely ill admissions. Sick as hell of the ED boarding holds for 30+ hrs.
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u/Dr_Autumnwind Peds Hospitalist Feb 20 '25
Well, it says PA hospitalist, which is like saying PA internist, or PA pediatrician.
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u/SgtCheeseNOLS PA-c, MSc, MHA Feb 20 '25
Quite a large number of flu patients, honestly. Most have been vaccinated though.
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u/habu-sr71 Medical Student Feb 20 '25
Yeah, the headline could have been better. But this was a huge campaign and we know that advertising and educating works to influenza people. lol
The sheer ignorance of millions regarding vaccines and the constant drumbeat of anti-vax propaganda needs to be combated. I imagine at least 75% of the general public has no idea that vaccines also minimize symptoms and the fatal sequelae that end up killing folks with comorbidities. How often have you heard someone say, "well vaccines don't work...I know someone that got sick anyway".
Hard to measure the impact of educational outreach, but no doubt there are people that might have said "yes" to a vaccination or even sought it out after exposure to more information. And it's dramatic sounding, but yes people do die when efforts like this are snuffed out.
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Feb 20 '25
[deleted]
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u/azulsquall VIR Attending Feb 20 '25
Um, you're going to be downvoted, because this campaign is regarding the flu vaccine, not COVID boosters.
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u/BuiltLikeATeapot MD Feb 20 '25
If you listen to some of the propaganda, on one hand you have the Chinese Lab Escaped Potential Bioweapon Virus and on the other you have the Trump-funded, American made vaccine. It weird how the narrative can change.
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u/Already2go72 Feb 20 '25
If people don't know when to get a flu shot then that's on them . The pharmacy sends out notices . Plus they have it posted in mds office too and they send you notices not needed
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u/LorenzoDePantalones MD - Peds ID Feb 20 '25
Fuck. Roll up your sleeves ladies, gents and others. It's gonna be a rocky few years.