Flu: The High Authority for Health issues new vaccination recommendations

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) recommended this Friday, May 9, that certain flu vaccines be given priority in the future for older people , marking a change in doctrine following a particularly violent epidemic.

"The HAS recommends, as part of the seasonal flu vaccination strategy, that Efluelda and Fluad vaccines be used preferentially in people aged 65 and over, over the standard-dose injectable vaccines available," the institution summarizes in a press release.

Efluelda, produced by the giant Sanofi , and Fluad, by the Vifor laboratory, are vaccines designed to be more effective. The first has a higher dose of antigens, the components of the virus that the immune system learns to recognize, while the second includes an adjuvant, that is, a component designed to strengthen its action.

However, these two vaccines, particularly Efluelda, have been the source of controversy for several years between laboratories and health authorities. Until now, the latter did not consider them to be of any significant benefit compared to other vaccines, and therefore did not recommend them any more than others.

Because of this situation, Sanofi did not market its Efluelda vaccine this season, considering the price offered by the authorities to be too low.

Since then, the 2024/2025 flu epidemic has proved particularly violent, with a high mortality rate compared to previous years, prompting the HAS to revise its position, especially since the vaccines in circulation have only shown limited effectiveness in the elderly.

The HAS explains that it has "taken into account new data from the literature showing the ability of these two vaccines," Efluelda and Fluad, "to reduce the number of hospitalizations among the elderly as well as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza," estimating their gain in effectiveness compared to standard vaccines at 15-25%.

It therefore recommends them as a priority for those over 65, the main category of people targeted by flu vaccination campaigns. However, the HAS refrains from establishing a hierarchy between Efluelda and Fluad, and therefore does not recommend one over the other.

This position therefore opens the way for Efluelda to return to the market, even if we will still have to wait for a new opinion from the HAS on the reimbursement conditions, then a resumption of negotiations on its price.