New Brunswick·NewA Fredericton-based pharmacist says people are still showing up to get vaccinated for influenza, despite recent news that this year’s vaccine may not be a match for a new form of the H3N2 strain.Doctor says H3N2 generally causes more severe infection than other strainsHannah Rudderham · CBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2025 1:04 PM EST | Last Updated: 26 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Fredericton pharmacist says that despite the possible mismatch between evolving flu strain H3N2 and this year’s flu vaccine, getting the shot can activate the immune system to be on alert. (Stu Mills/CBC)A Fredericton-based pharmacist says people are still showing up to get vaccinated for influenza, despite recent news that this year’s vaccine may not be a match for a new form of the H3N2 strain.And he believes they’re taking the right approach to the annual flu season now underway.“We have to remember that there are different strains of flu viruses that are around,” said Ayub Chishti, a pharmacist at Campus Pharmacy on the University of New Brunswick campus.“So this vaccine does provide protection from the older virus strains as well, which may still cause the flu symptoms.In the past, about two-thirds of people hospitalized with flu were not vaccinated, he said, “even though, in those years, we weren’t able to get the vaccine for the exact strain.”Ayub Chishti, a pharmacist at Campus Pharmacy in Fredericton, says that with holidays — and more gatherings — coming up, getting the vaccine can help protect those who are at high risk. (Submitted by Ayub Chishti)The H3N2 strain is a subtype of influenza A and recently gained mutations that could make the current flu shot less effective against it, CBC News recently reported.The current flu season abroad has been marked by record case counts in the Southern Hemisphere, and an early start to the season across parts of Asia and the U.K. Vaccine could alert immune system Chishti said that despite the mutation, getting the flu vaccine can activate the immune system to be on alert.A colourized transmission electron microscope image of the H3N2 flu virus from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC Public Health Image Library)“We have to remember, a virus is a living thing, and it does change,” Chishti said. “It’s trying to be smarter than us, and we are always trying to catch up to it. Some years, we get lucky and we get the exact one, and it doesn’t have time to change. The flu virus is present from October until March, or about six months, he said, and then is not active, he said.”So our body’s immune system sort of forgets about it. So by getting the flu shot that we have now … it will still help, even though you don’t get the right strain.”Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a family medicine and urgent care doctor in Calgary, said flu vaccines protect people against three different types of influenza. This year’s flu shot aims to cover multiple bases, and features components that target various subtypes of influenza A — including strains of H1N1 and H3N2 — and influenza B.Each year, Bhardwaj said, experts around the world look at which viruses are circulating and make a prediction as to which ones will be circulating eight or nine months in the future.Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary-based doctor, said vaccine experts around the world look at which viruses are circulating and make a prediction as to which ones will be circulating eight or nine months in the future, which can be difficult with a quickly-evolving influenza strain. (CBC)“What the vaccine does basically shows your immune system what to watch out for, kind of like showing it a wanted poster,” Bhardwaj told Information Morning Moncton.“That’s hard to do, especially for the H3N2 influenza virus, because of the way that it can mutate and evolve quite quickly. “It makes it look different enough from the wanted poster that it can slip past your first line of defence and cause infection, even though you were vaccinated. And that’s what we think might happen this year.”Bhardwaj also said H3N2 does generally cause more severe infection than other strains, which translates to more stress on the health-care system. That’s why he said it’s important to think in terms of protecting the health-care system, instead of just personal protection.“So the virus experts who are looking at this H3N2 strain, though, say that, look, even though the virus might dodge your immune system’s defences enough to cause infection, even though you were vaccinated, maybe there’s reason to suspect that the mutation might not make it a more severe illness.”ABOUT THE AUTHORHannah Rudderham is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. She grew up in Cape Breton, N.S., and moved to Fredericton in 2018. You can send story tips to hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca.With files from Information Morning Fredericton and Moncton
Fredericton pharmacist encourages flu shot, even if vaccine may be mismatch for evolving strain
