COVID-19 pandemic has increased the acceptance of influenza (flu) vaccination in eligible unvaccinated individuals and has also motivated the newly eligible individuals to get vaccinated, a new study published in JMIR Public Health & Surveillance suggests.
All registrants of the NHS's largest electronic personal health record were enquired about their intentions to get vaccinated against flu through an online questionnaire.
Among 6433 individuals who completed the survey, 945 were previously eligible for flu vaccination but had not received the vaccine, whereas 679 were newly eligible but had not received the vaccine. Of the eligible individuals, 536 (56.7%) expressed their intention to get vaccinated in 2020-2021, thus increasing the vaccination rate in the cohort from 79.6 per cent to 91.2 per cent. Four hundred and sixty-six (68.6%) of the newly eligible individuals also expressed their intention to get vaccinated in 2020-2021.
Among eligible individuals who expressed no intention of getting vaccinated in 2020-2021, 30.2 per cent gave misinformed reasons. 51 per cent of previously unvaccinated health care workers would accept vaccination in 2020-2021.
According to the authors, the findings could help inform resource planning for flu vaccination. Furthermore, they also emphasise the need for effective messaging campaigns to tackle misconceptions regarding vaccination, a strategy which will also be useful for COVID-19 vaccination programmes currently underway.
