Life in the time of influenza
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) confirms that this year's flu shots did not meet standards; the ministry lays the blame on the World Health Organization; experts still stress that getting a shot is best way to defend against the flu.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) referred to Yedioth Ahronoth's story on the low effectivity of this year's flu cocktail vaccine. Litzman admitted, "I too fell ill with the flu."
The minister spoke at a conference dealing with aging and said, "I got vaccinated two months ago. The whole country saw me get a shot, but then two days ago I got out of bed after being sick for a week." That said, he stressed that this still does not mean one should not get vaccinated. "I got a vaccinated for many years, and nothing ever happened to me. The last time I took antibiotics was a long time ago."
Litzman laid the blame on the World Health Organization (WHO), whose erroneous recommendation—that the Israeli Health Ministry administer a flu cocktail vaccine that included strands that did not turn out to be particularly prevalent this winter—resulted in the shots not being as effective as they were expected be. He said that the WHO "gives us the strands at the beginning of the year, and we're supposed to get a list of strands for next year pretty soon."
Health Ministry Moshe Director General Bar Siman-Tov also referenced the issue. At this point, we don't know how effective the vaccine is or how the effectivity of next year's vaccine will be. But while you can wonder how effective the vaccine we administer is, the conclusion shouldn't be that we shouldn't get vaccinated," he said.
