Letter to the editor: Increase of influenza vaccination coverage rates during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the upcoming influenza season in northern hemisphere countries and Australia

Riccio, Marco Del; Lina, Bruno; Caini, Saverio; Staadegaard, Lisa; Wiegersma, Sytske; Kynčl, Jan; Combadière, Béhazine; MacIntyre, C Raina; Paget, John

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.es.2021.26.50.2101143

Cited by 38 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, the interest in influenza vaccinations could have resulted from the fact that the flu vaccine was considered to afford protection against COVID-19 [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Considering that EU member states are trying to attain good influenza vaccination coverage, with an expected rate of 75% amongst the elderly population, for example [ 8 ], the influenza season was a great chance to boost the vaccination coverage in the analysed countries, bringing them closer to the level reached in the UK, or the USA [ 9 , 10 ], where a 75% coverage rate was exceeded during the 2020–2021 season [ 11 ]. However, the insufficient market stock of vaccines might be the result of drug shortages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 2019–2020 influenza season, it was 48.4% among Americans who were more than 18 years old [ 10 ]. However, during the next season (2020–2021) and in the time of the second and the third COVID-19 wave, influenza vaccination in elderly people increased in many countries, including, e.g., Italy (+10.7%), England (+8.5%), Poland (+3.3%), the Philippines (+3.0%), and the USA (+5.4%) [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social Attitude to COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccinations after the Influenza Vaccination Season and between the Second and Third COVID-19 Wave in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine

Zaprutko

Kremin

Michalak

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected the entire world and contributed to severe health and economic consequences. A safe and effective vaccine is a tool allowing the pandemic to be controlled. Hence, we aimed to conduct a survey on vaccinations against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. We also evaluated societal attitudes towards influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations. Materials and methods: We conducted the study between December 2020 and May 2021. At the time, the countries subject to the research were between the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used an anonymous and self-designed questionnaire comprised of eleven closed-ended questions and a short socio-demographic section. The questionnaire was administered by direct contact or mainly (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) by e-mail or Facebook. Finally, we included 2753 answers from Poland, 1852 from Ukraine, and 213 from Lithuania. Results: Between 61% (Poland) and 72.9% (Ukraine) of the study participants have never been vaccinated against influenza (p < 0.05). Totals of 67.6% of the respondents in Poland, 73.71% in Lithuania, and 29.5% in Ukraine responded that they want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Vaccine hesitancy was mainly related to worries about its side effects. There were also vaccine non-adopters in the study. In Ukraine, 67% of the respondents were clearly opposed to mandatory COVID-19 vaccines, compared to 41.7% in Poland and 30.99% in Lithuania (p < 0.05). Conclusions: There are still many people who present vaccine hesitancy or are opposed to vaccines. Thus, societal education about vaccination and the pandemic is crucial. Vaccine hesitancy or refusal might be related to vaccine origin. Shortages of influenza vaccines made it impossible to vaccinate those who were determined to be vaccinated. There is room for discussion of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Attitude to COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccinations after the Influenza Vaccination Season and between the Second and Third COVID-19 Wave in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine

Zaprutko

Kremin

Michalak

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, it is unclear whether this increased willingness will translate into higher coverage [9]. It is also important to highlight the increase in influenza vaccination coverage in the 2020/2021 season in different population groups in many European Countries [10] including Spain, despite the low influenza activity or the existence of a problem of under-diagnosis, when thinking that COVID 19 cases could not suffer simultaneously from both pathologies. Currently, very few studies are available on changes in influenza coverage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Coverage against Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in Health Sciences Students during COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vaccination against influenza and SARS-CoV-2 is recommended in health sciences students to reduce the risk of acquiring these diseases and transmitting them to patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate how the pandemic influenced the modification of influenza vaccination coverage during the 2019/2020 and 2021/2022 campaigns and to analyze the vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2 in health sciences students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of the Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry of the Complutense University of Madrid. A questionnaire was administered in two stages, the first, Q1, before the start of the pandemic, where we analyzed influenza coverage during the 2019/2020 campaign and a second, Q2, 18 months after the start of the pandemic where we analyzed influenza coverage during the 2021/2022 campaign and coverage against SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1894 students (58.78% of the total of those enrolled) participated. Flu vaccination coverage increased from 26.7% in Q1 to 35.0% in Q2 (p < 0.05), being higher in the age group older than 21 years, who studied nursing, were in their fourth year and lived with people at risk. Vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2 was very high (97.8%), especially in students vaccinated against influenza. Coverage of the influenza vaccine in health sciences students increased from 2019–2020 to 2021–2022, being higher in the age group older than 21 years, who studied nursing, were in their first and fourth year and lived with people at risk. Coverage of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in health sciences students was very high, especially in those vaccinated against influenza.

show abstract

“…Thanks to the 2020/2021 flu vaccine campaign, in Italy there was a significant increase in vaccination coverage in the general population (from 16.8% in 2019/2020 to 23.7% in 2020/2021) and an even higher increment in older adults (from 54.6% to 65.3%, respectively) [10]. This increase was observed in all European countries despite the rapid shortage of flu vaccine stocks observed in the European continent during the first weeks of the influenza season 2020/2021 [20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influenza Vaccination Uptake in the General Italian Population during the 2020–2021 Flu Season: Data from the EPICOVID-19 Online Web-Based Survey

Giacomelli

Galli

Maggi³

et al. 2022

Vaccines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To assess influenza vaccine uptake during the 2020/2021 flu season and compare it with that of the 2019/2020 flu season among respondents to the second phase of the web-based EPICOVID-19 survey, we performed an observational web-based nationwide online survey (January–February 2021) in which respondents to the first survey (April–June 2020) were contacted and asked to complete a second questionnaire. Factors associated with vaccine uptake in the 2020/2021 flu season were assessed by applying a multivariable multinomial logistic regression model. Out of the 198,822 respondents to the first survey, 41,473 (20.9%) agreed to fill out the follow-up questionnaire; of these, 8339 (20.1%) were vaccinated only during the 2020/2021 season, 8828 (21.3%) were vaccinated during both seasons and 22,710 (54.8%) were vaccinated in neither season. Educational level (medium (aOR 1.33 95%CI 1.13–1.56) and high (aOR 1.69 95%CI 1.44–1.97) vs. low) and socio-economic deprivation according to SES scoring (1 point aOR 0.83 (95%CI 0.78–0.89), 2 aOR 0.68 (95%CI 0.60–0.77) points or ≥3 points aOR 0.42 (95%CI 0.28–0.45) vs. 0 points) were found to be associated with flu vaccine uptake. Our study shows that social determinants seemed to affect flu vaccination uptake and identifies specific categories of the population to target during future influenza vaccination campaigns.

show abstract

Letter to the editor: Increase of influenza vaccination coverage rates during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the upcoming influenza season in northern hemisphere countries and Australia

Abstract: Increase of influenza vaccination coverage rates during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the upcoming influenza season in northern hemisphere countries and Australia.

Cited by 38 publications

References 4 publications

Social Attitude to COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccinations after the Influenza Vaccination Season and between the Second and Third COVID-19 Wave in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine

Social Attitude to COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccinations after the Influenza Vaccination Season and between the Second and Third COVID-19 Wave in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine

Vaccine Coverage against Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in Health Sciences Students during COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain

Influenza Vaccination Uptake in the General Italian Population during the 2020–2021 Flu Season: Data from the EPICOVID-19 Online Web-Based Survey

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About