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1 Reason Flu Vaccines Are So Lousy: They're Grown in Eggs

The way flu vaccines are made is slow, clunky and prone to errors

A Democratic group will take trolling to new heights this weekend. The Bridge Project, affiliated with the Democratic super PAC American Bridge, will have a plane fly an aerial banner along the beaches of the New Jersey Shore on Saturday to call attention to the cost of President Donald Trump’s trip to his nearby golf resort, NBC News reported. The banner, which reads, “TRUMP IS ON VACATION WITH YOUR $$,” will be flown nearly the entire length of the Jersey Shore, from Beach Haven to Sea Bright. The banner directs bathers to website TrumpEconomy.com, which tracks Trump’s vacations and contrasts them with negative statistics about the economy. Trump’s frequent golf outings and the cost to taxpayers associated with them have become a point of controversy.

Last year's influenza vaccine reduced the number of flu-related visits to the doctor by 42 percent, and the vaccine reduced a specific strain of flu virus by even less, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One important reason flu shots don't usually work very well is because they're grown in chicken eggs, a slow and tricky process that can go wrong easily, researchers told NBC News.

"We need to get away from the antiquated production model, which the egg is," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

He thinks that vaccines made using insect cells could be better at protecting people from the flu.

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