The science and politics of the new mRNA flu vaccine
Science Friday

The science and politics of the new mRNA flu vaccine

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 10, 202612 min
  • Interview
  • Health

A new mRNA flu vaccine made by Moderna was approved by the FDA in August, and is currently available for people aged 50 and over. The promise of an mRNA vaccine for flu is that it can be spun up more quickly than a traditional vaccine, meaning it could better match the flu strain that’s circulating. Is that what happened this year? How are the side effects? And how has dysfunction at the health agencies impacted rollout? Flora discusses these questions and more with vaccine researcher Anna Durbin. Guest: Dr. Anna Durbin is a va...

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Hey, it's Flora, and you're listening to Science Friday. A new mRNA flu vaccine made by Moderna was approved by the FDA in August. It's currently available for people age 50 and over. That was the age group studied in the clinical trial.

0:19

Now the promise of an mRNA flu vaccine is that it could be spun up quicker than a traditional vaccine, meaning in theory you could get a better match to the year's flu strain that's circulating. Is that what happened this year?

0:32

How are the side effects going? And how has dysfunction at the health agencies impacted the rollout? Those are some of the questions we're going to tackle today

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