How Influenza Vaccination Rate Variation Could Inform Pandemic-Era Vaccination Efforts

Excerpt

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic persisting and an influenza season looming, preparing a public health strategy to approach herd immunity to influenza is critical to preserving health care capacity and saving lives. Influenza led to 45 million symptomatic cases and 61,000 deaths in the 2017–2018 season, but under half of US adults and two-thirds of children are vaccinated.^{1, 2} The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends all persons 6 months of age or older without contraindications receive the influenza vaccine annually, especially those at higher risk for complications (e.g., older age, underlying medical conditions).² Expanding upon earlier research on influenza vaccination disparities in 2011–2012,³ we use 2018 data to provide updated vaccination rates and identify rate variations informative to public health efforts to control influenza transmission and develop an outreach strategy for COVID-19 and other pandemic-related vaccination. …