In a dramatic blow to Moderna, the CDC has left the company’s newly approved mRNA flu vaccine off its list of options for the upcoming flu season.
The snub comes barely a month after the FDA licensed mFLUSIVA for adults aged 50 and older, and weeks after MD Reports first exposed a statistically significant safety signal in its pivotal trial.
Instead of issuing new influenza vaccine recommendations for 2026–27, the CDC has fallen back on last year’s guidance.
Following repeated, unanswered inquiries from MD Reports about its next steps, the agency quietly updated its official website this month, stating that “because of legal uncertainties and inquiries,” last July’s recommendations would remain in effect for the upcoming influenza season.
The CDC has not retreated from flu vaccination. It still recommends an annual influenza vaccine for everyone aged six months and older, with rare exceptions.
For people under 65, it states there is no preference among three vaccine types — inactivated, recombinant or live attenuated influenza vaccines.
For those aged 65 and older, it preferentially recommends Fluzone High-Dose, Flublok Recombinant or Fluad Adjuvanted — and if none is available, another age-appropriate influenza vaccine should be given.
Moderna’s mFLUSIVA vaccine is conspicuously absent.
That omission does not appear to strip the product of its Vaccine Act liability protections. The government’s website, updated last month, says the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program covers “all seasonal influenza vaccines.”
Even so, the setback is significant for Moderna.