Does the current seasonal influenza vaccine protect me from avian influenza?

Dr. Julie L. Gerberding
Director, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Each strain of flu needs a special vaccine. That’s why we have to get a new flu shot every year because every year there are different strains of flu circulating. So the flu shot we’re taking for the seasonal flu this year is not going to provide any protection against the avian virus or any other new pandemic virus that will emerge. We can make a vaccine to a pandemic virus, but right now we can’t make it very fast and so we have to count on a situation where once we see what the pandemic strain is, we’ll have to have some lag time while our manufacturers catch up.