Frontline healthcare staff knew that this year’s jab was ineffective long before Public Health England made an official announcement
And now they tell me. As I approach my 85th birthday, Public Health England (PHE) has revealed that the flu jab I had back in September is only 3% effective against this year’s strain of the A(H3N2) virus. There has been a genetic “drift” in the virus since the vaccine to counteract the original strain was ordered for the NHS back in February last year. The virus chooses as its target frail old people with multiple co-morbidities. So here am I, virtually defenceless against it.
To make it worse, I heard last week that the death rate among old people this winter has gone up by almost a third (32%). The odds, dear reader, are that this will the last article I write for you. But be of good cheer; it’s now February, and in a month spring will be here and the flu virus will fade away. Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
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