Older Individuals Are More Likely to Get Flu Vaccine Than in Years Before COVID-19

A new poll by the National Poll on Healthy Aging shows that 1 in 3 older adults feel it is more important to get vaccinated against the flu this year than in years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, 64% of individuals between the aged 50 and 64 years say that they already got or are likely to get their flu shots this year compared with 54% last year. About 86% of individuals over aged 65 years say they already got or are likely to get their flu shots compared with 83% last year.

About 87% of Democrats said that they got or plan to get their flu shots compared with 60% of Independents and 67% of Republicans.

In addition, of those aged 50 to 63 years, 76% said that they have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine compared with 87% over the aged 65 years. And 85% of older individuals who received the COVID-19 vaccine said that they planned to or already got a flu vaccination. Among those not vaccinated against COVID-19, 66% said that they do not plan to get the flu vaccine.

About 80% of white individuals said they had gotten their COVID-19 vaccinations, up from 72% in January. This compares with about 82% of Black individuals, up from 60% in January, and 88% of Hispanic individuals, up from 69% in January.

Last year, about 63% of white individuals said that they were likely to get vaccinated compared with 40% of Black individuals and 51% Hispanic individuals.

About 94% of Democrats said that they were more than likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccination compared with 69% of independents and 71% of Republicans.

In addition, 61% of vaccinated individuals aged 50 to 64 years said they had or would get a third dose compared with 78% of vaccinated individuals over aged 65 years.

Of individuals aged 50 to 64 years, 12% of vaccinated individuals did not intend to get a third dose compared with 7% of individuals over aged 65 years.

About 83% of Democrats said they had or would get another COVID-19 dose compared with 62% of independents and 53% of Republicans.

The pool was based on a sample of 1006 individuals over the aged 50 years, who answered a wide range of questions online or by phone in mid-October 2021.

Reference

Which older adults are getting their flu shots and COVID boosters? EurekAlert. News release. November 3, 2021. Accessed November 3, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/933623