Influenza Vaccine Uptake Down Across U.S., Study Finds
Less than half of U.S. adults have been vaccinated against flu this season, which is down compared to last year. COVID vaccine uptake is also down this year.
A new study found that fewer adults have been vaccinated against influenza than in years past. CIDRAP has the news.
Less than half of U.S. adults have been immunized against “any respiratory virus, according to a survey of 1,015 adults released this week by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.” Only 34% of adults have received a flu shot; 25% have had a COVID shot; and only 6% have been vaccinated against RSV, which is a leading cause of hospitalization in infants and older adults. Those equate to drops of 6%, 27%, and 34%, respectively, over the past year.
Around 44% of people surveyed said that they “trust their healthcare provider more than anyone else to provide vaccine information; only 13% of all respondents listed the CDC as their top source.” Younger generations are more likely to look to social media for guidance. Political differences also sprung up in the survey; Democrats were more likely than Republicans or independents to receive an updated flu or COVID shot.
These levels of trust in public health agencies are historically low as a result of changing guidance and misinformation from anti-vaccine activists. 44% of people polled in the survey found “guidance on respiratory vaccinations either unclear or neither clear nor unclear.”
