The Skeptics Guide #1110 - Oct 17 2026

Kara Santa Maria (0:03)

You're listening to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

Steven Novella (0:09)

Hello and welcome to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. Today is Thursday, October 15th, 2026, and this is your host, Steven Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella.

Bob Novella (0:18)

Hey, everybody.

Steven Novella (0:19)

Kara Santa Maria.

Kara Santa Maria (0:20)

Howdy.

Steven Novella (0:20)

And Jay Novella.

Jay Novella (0:21)

Hey, guys.

Steven Novella (0:22)

So have all of you guys gotten your flu vaccines?

Jay Novella (0:26)

Not yet.

Kara Santa Maria (0:26)

I have.

Jay Novella (0:27)

I keep saying I'm going to go, but I got to wait till like Monday.

Steven Novella (0:30)

Why? Just go.

Jay Novella (0:31)

No, because I have my sister and brother-in-law and their kids are out. From hearing from Joss, she was like knocked out for two days.

Kara Santa Maria (0:37)

She got COVID.

Steven Novella (0:38)

That wasn't just the flu vaccine.

Kara Santa Maria (0:40)

Yeah. I got COVID flu and my last HPV at the same time, which I think I already had, but it wasn't showing up in the registry, so I got another one just to be safe.

Steven Novella (0:49)

Flu is nothing.

Kara Santa Maria (0:50)

Yeah, flu is, yeah, you might have a slightly sore arm, but I don't think you'll feel any side effects.

Bob Novella (0:55)

I got flu and COVID when sitting, and I barely noticed it this time around, but that's unpredictable.

Jay Novella (1:01)

It's a little variable for you, Steve.

Kara Santa Maria (1:02)

I got sick from the COVID shot this go-around, which is weird because it had been a long time since I, I'd say the last three, four boosters I didn't really have an effect from, but this go-around, the new variant, I guess.

Steven Novella (1:15)

Yeah, I was viral and achy for two days.

Kara Santa Maria (1:17)

Same. It was about a day, but it happened to be a day I was traveling, and I was like, Oh God, this sucks.

Steven Novella (1:23)

So this year, they're saying that the flu's hitting early, especially in the western part of the US.

Kara Santa Maria (1:30)

Yep.

Steven Novella (1:30)

So they're really recommending you get vaccinated before the end of October.

Kara Santa Maria (1:34)

Yeah, I think when they tested the samples in late September, it was about a sevenfold increase over normal positive hits for this time of year.

Steven Novella (1:45)

And it looks like it's a good match this year. So now, all flu vaccines are trivalent, right? You're getting three strains.

This year, they're covering H1N1 and H3N2 strains. Those seem to be the ones that are out and about, so hopefully, it'll be a good match. And did you guys know that there's now an mRNA flu vaccine available from Moderna? Yeah. Oh, wow.

Jay Novella (2:06)

So is it performing better?

Steven Novella (2:08)

The manufacturing speed is two to three months versus six to eight months for the traditional vaccine.

That's huge. That's way they're able to respond to match the strains better because it's less of a delay, right? Otherwise, you're guessing what strains are going to be going around six to eight months in the future. This vaccine is supposed to be 26.6 percent more effective than traditional flu vaccines. And it's egg-free, so if you have an egg allergy, you can't, so for people who can't take the egg-based vaccines, it's good. But so far, it's for people 50 years old and older only, just because they're ramping it up still and they're reserving it for the people who benefit the most. Yeah.

Kara Santa Maria (2:47)

And don't forget too, that if you are an older adult, you also have the option to get a high-dose shot. There are shots that have adjuvants in them.

Bob Novella (2:56)

You do.

Kara Santa Maria (2:56)

Yeah. I don't think I am eligible and or need it.

Bob Novella (2:59)

A high-dose shot, really? It's for the flu or COVID?

Steven Novella (3:03)

For flu. Flu. And the other thing is, there's good evidence that if you get the flu vaccine every year, you do build up cumulative immunity. Yeah. Because even though there are different variants, the variants are still related, they're still similar. And so if you like every year you get a flu vaccine, just over time, you just get more resistant to the flu in general. So that's not bad to build that up before you do get old and are more vulnerable to things like the flu.

Kara Santa Maria (3:30)

It's still influenza. It's like COVID. COVID is the same way, right? Like it doesn't completely fade within the course of a year.