Flu shots for the elderly – are they worth it?

For at least several decades, telling the elderly to get an annual flu shot seemed like a no brainer. After all, seniors are often in more fragile health, and a bout of influenza can be debilitating. Moreover, it can lead to pneumonia and other serious conditions.

But new data suggests that the flu shot doesn’t actually reduce deaths among the elderly. This contradicts a study published in 2007 that suggested that influenza immunization can actually reduce deaths in community dwelling elders. If the flu shot doesn’t save lives, is it still “worth it” to spend on promotion and delivery of the flu vaccine to the elderly, and for Medicare to pay for that vaccine? I admit, not covering flu vaccine would be a bit radical, and it might save the cost of an associated hospitalization and illness, but should we be actively trying to get every American over 65 to get a flu shot every year?

If flu shots are neither cost effective nor life-saving, is there a good argument for why we should recommend flu shots for everyone 65 and older? After all, other vaccines, such as the HPV vaccine that can protect against the virus that causes cervical cancer are coming under fire for their huge price tags and questionable ability to reduce death.

By the way - here’s an interesting read on why flu shots are not cost-effective in working adults.