Dr. Oz Calls Flu Vaccine ‘Controversial of Late’

As a harsh flu season spreads across the United States, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stirred debate by questioning confidence in the annual flu shot while urging Americans to focus on personal health measures to fight infection.

Appearing Tuesday on Newsmax, Mehmet Oz said the vaccine has drawn increased skepticism and suggested that broader Make America Healthy Again initiatives could help people withstand illness during a year marked by a particularly aggressive strain of influenza.

“Flu is always a problem. Every year there’s a flu vaccine. It doesn’t always work very well. That’s why it’s been controversial of late,” Oz said. “But like many illnesses, the best news out there is if you can take care of yourself, so that when you do end up running into the flu, you can overwhelm it.”

Public health experts note that concerns this season stem from uncertainty about how closely the vaccine matches the dominant strain, known as H3N2 subclade K. Even so, they say vaccination remains an important defense against severe illness and widespread transmission.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to advise that everyone aged six months and older receive a flu shot, ideally before the end of October each year.

Backing that position, Jerome Adams said this week that even when the vaccine is not perfectly matched, it still meaningfully reduces risks tied to influenza.

“Even in mismatched years, flu vaccines provide cross-protection because the strains are related. Historical data … show mismatched vaccines can still reduce lab-confirmed flu risk by around 50-60% overall and are particularly good at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death,” Adams wrote on social platform X.

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In contrast, allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have increasingly challenged the effectiveness of the flu shot, arguing that it offers little benefit and could even worsen respiratory outcomes.

One of the most vocal critics has been Aaron Siri, a lawyer aligned with Kennedy who addressed the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee earlier this month. Siri pointed to studies he said undermined claims of benefit from the flu vaccine.

“no convincing evidence — none — that flu shots lowered the chances of dying, being admitted to the hospital, suffering serious complications from the flu, or transmitting flu to others,” Siri argued in October.

“That said: get a flu shot, don’t get a fu shot. That’s freedom. Everyone should be free to choose,” he added.

Oz, meanwhile, used his Newsmax appearance to emphasize lifestyle choices as a key line of defense against severe flu, rather than relying solely on vaccination.

“Things like getting sunlight, and you can’t do that in northern parts of the country, which is tough this time of year, take some vitamin D. Zinc seems to be effective as a basic supplement,” he added. “But fundamentally, the MAHA initiatives: Eat the right food, food that came out of the ground looking the way it looks when you eat it and consume it, and getting physical activity actually makes sense. But the most important tool of all is sleep.”

The H3N2 subclade K strain, sometimes referred to as a “super-flu” variant, has circulated widely this season, with patients reporting longer-lasting and more intense symptoms.

Despite the debate, vaccination rates have ticked upward. The CDC reports that 42.2 percent of adults had received a flu shot as of Dec. 13, a higher share than at the same point last year.

For those who do fall ill, the CDC currently lists four antiviral treatments for influenza: Tamiflu, Xofluza, Relenza, and Rapivab.

{Matzav.com}