Understanding Influenza Vaccine Clinical Performance: A Podcast

Despite well-established vaccination programs, seasonal influenza is still causing substantial clinical, economic and societal burdens. As part of strategies to continually improve influenza vaccine clinical performance, several new approaches are being examined, including high-dose vaccines, adjuvanted vaccines, egg-free vaccines, nasal spray vaccines and mRNA vaccines. Given this range of influenza vaccines, coupled with various vaccine hesitancy concerns, healthcare professionals’ understanding and confidence in the clinical performance of influenza vaccines remain key. In this podcast, we discuss the challenges for healthcare professionals in understanding the clinical performance of influenza vaccines and the importance of education in this area, particularly to address perceptions of influenza vaccine failure. We also explore several elements that should be considered in the assessment of influenza vaccine clinical performance: (1) assessing relevant clinical outcomes, such as hospitalization data, (2) utilizing robust methodology in influenza vaccine trials to ensure high quality evidence and (3) approaches used when considering the full body of evidence.