The article acknowledges this:

Only four studies were properly designed to pin down the effectiveness of flu vaccine, he says, and two of those showed that it might be effective in certain groups of patients

The article seems to be primarily advocating double-blind, controlled clinical trials among the elderly, since that is the group where death is the primary concern rather than just getting sick.

Bidding on round 17 just ended and now it has been bid up to $4,713,823,000, meeting the reserve price.

This article was just wasteful speculation. I guess that shouldn't surprise me.