American Heart Association volunteer expert, Orly Vardeny, PharmD, MS, Minneapolis VA Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research and associate professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Offering perspective on AHA Scientific Sessions 2020 Presentation P223 
copyright American Heart Association 2020

"Every year, the influenza virus changes. Some years it's extremely severe, and other years it may be milder. But regardless of how virulent or how serious, the, or how infectious that strain of the virus is, in a particular year, you are always going to cut down on your risk, for getting sick, when getting a flu shot. Flu shots aren't perfect, they don't cut down on the risk for influenza, and its complications by a hundred percent, but they substantially reduce how sick a person gets, and how long they might be sick. So even if you have never had a flu shot, it's really important especially this particular year, with co-circulating COVID, to be able to cut down on the risk for getting sick. And especially among individuals that have underlying, health conditions. 

One clear message that comes out of this abstract, is the low percentage of individuals, in this younger age group who get vaccinated. And it's concerning to see low rates among people, without health conditions, but it's even more concerning that people that have, underlying health conditions that increase their risk, for, for complications are dying from influenza, do not get vaccinated. So that speaks to the importance of this, educational message that we need to be sending to, younger adults, that it is extremely important for them, to become vaccinated to protect themselves, and those around them."