Each year's flu vaccine is designed to combat last year's viruses because the PTB cannot be sure which will dominate in the coming year and it seems new ones always pop up. I had an argument on another forum (I've told about this here already ... somewhere) with a "senior" who claimed it was everyone's *duty* to get vaccinated in order to protect the young, the old and the already-sick, which pissed me off; point out it's to my benefit to protect myself and my family and I may agree; point out getting vaccinated benefits the collective and you can kiss my ass. (And yes, I know about herd immunity theory.) Particularly since we here have known the "current" vaccine fail-rate as regards new flu strains. Plus, it has been reported that, even for immunity against already-known strains, this year's vaccine is not very effective for the elderly.
As a last kick in the butt, pharmacies are finding in difficult to keep up with the demand for Tamiflu.
That there should ever be drug shortages in this country ........ I can only shake my head. But there is a bill coming due for those behind the machinations that cause such.