Wendy Williams is the latest celebrity to fall victim to the terrible flu season.
The talkshow host, whose talk show has been on-air since 2008, has been forced to cancel tapings of The Wendy Williams Show for the rest of the week.
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“Wendy is still experiencing flu-like symptoms, and so she can rest up and get better, we have decided to cancel tapings the rest of the week,” a spokesperson for the show told Page Six on Wednesday morning.
Reruns of the show will air during the usual slotted time Wednesday through Friday, with regular taping expected to resume Monday.
This isn’t the first health scare that Williams has had. In October, the 53-year-old gave fans a scare when she passed out during a live broadcast, the host losing her balance and staggering before dropping out of view. The incident occurred during a festive Halloween episode, all while Williams was dressed in an elaborate bright green Statue of Liberty costume.
“That was not a stunt. overheated in my costume, and I did pass out. But, you know, I’m a champ, and I’m back,” she later explained.
While Williams’ latest health scare is taking her out for a few days, it’s no surprise considering that the CDC has labeled this year’s flu season the worst since the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak, with influenza having already claimed the lives of more than 50 children.
New research from Canada revealed that this year’s flu vaccine is 14% less effective than originally thought, meaning that it is just 20% effective against the dominant H3N2 strain.
“That means people who were vaccinated should not consider themselves invincible for this season,” said lead researcher Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an infectious diseases expert at the BC Center for Disease Control.
Despite the inefficiency of the flu vaccine, the CDC is still urging people to get vaccinated, as it can still lessen the chance of catching the virus by 10% to 60%, potentially saving lives.
