A recent study from Cleveland Clinic has stirred up some conversation around the flu vaccine’s effectiveness. This study, still awaiting peer review, observed 53,402 employees in northern Ohio during the 2024-2025 flu season. Surprisingly, it found that those who got the flu vaccine had a 27% higher chance of getting the flu compared to those who didn’t.
The flu shot is something the CDC suggests everyone over six months old should get each year. It’s supposed to help lessen the severity of the illness and keep folks out of the hospital. But the Cleveland Clinic pointed out that how well the vaccine works can depend on the virus strain and various personal factors like age and health conditions.
One thing to keep in mind with this study is that it mainly looked at the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine, which 99% of the employees received. The researchers admitted that other types of flu vaccines might have worked better. There’s also the chance that home testing kits didn’t catch every infection.
The study didn’t dive into whether the vaccine reduced hospitalizations or the severity of the flu. It mostly focused on working-age adults and didn’t include many kids, seniors, or people with weakened immune systems. Cleveland Clinic clarified that the study doesn’t mean vaccines increase flu risk; it just suggests this year’s shot might not have been as protective for healthy healthcare workers.
Dr. Marc Siegel from NYU Langone Health, who reviews medical findings for Fox News, thinks the study’s results could be misleading. He pointed out that healthcare workers naturally face more exposure to the flu, which could explain the higher infection rates among the vaccinated group. Siegel emphasized that the vaccine is meant to lessen how bad the flu gets, not necessarily how much it spreads.
Siegel also mentioned that the real measure of the vaccine’s success is how it reduces hospital visits or doctor appointments, which typically drop thanks to the flu shot. He noted that the flu vaccine’s effectiveness changes yearly, depending on how well it matches the flu strain going around.
Dr. Jacob Glanville, a biotechnology CEO, agrees that more review is needed before drawing firm conclusions from the study. He suggested that if the findings are accurate, they would likely be seen in other studies from the same season. Dr. Mike Sevilla, a family doctor in Ohio, also noted that flu vaccine effectiveness can vary greatly each year.
Dr. Sevilla said he noticed more flu cases in his practice this season, but they weren’t necessarily more severe. He reassures his patients that even if they catch the flu, having the vaccine usually means the illness won’t be as rough. For any concerns about vaccines, he recommends talking to a family doctor.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Cleveland Clinic researchers for more insights. Melissa Rudy, a senior health editor at Fox News Digital, contributed to this discussion.
1 Comment
In my life I”ve had only one flu shot, and that was right before the Covid scam-demic broke out.
Now I won’t take that shot or the Pneumonia jab either.
I never took the clot-shot and never got sick. Meanwhile, my neighbors who were vaxxed and boosted many times, keep getting sick.
We’ve all been deceived. The phony Covid “vaccine” killed otherwise healthy young adults and children.