More than One-Third of US Adults Say They "Don't Need" Respiratory Virus Vaccines this Fall

US adults are hesitant about getting vaccines this fall, according to a survey conducted by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.¹ The national poll of 1006 people aged 18 years and older found more than one-third (37%) have gotten vaccines in the past but do not plan to this year. The same percentage (37%) of respondents said they don’t need any of the vaccines surveyed in the poll, including flu, COVID-19, pneumococcal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).¹

The survey also found that a slight majority (56%) of adults have gotten or plan to get the flu shot this fall, but less than half (43%) have gotten or plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Those older than 65 years of age were the most likely to get recommended vaccines.¹

The survey did not ask respondents about why they were hesitant about getting vaccines this fall. “But in my practice, I have seen many possible reasons for vaccines hesitancy: patients feel they are at low risk for infection or complications of flu/COVID, they are fearful of needles, they are worried about potential side effects,” Nora Colburn, MD, medical director of clinical epidemiology at Ohio State’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital, told Patient Care sister site Formulary Watch in a recent interview.

“Late fall and winter is our ‘respiratory viral season’ when we tend to see a lot of respiratory viruses circulate in the community, including influenza, RSV and COVID-19,” Colburn said. “It is important that we all get our vaccines before the season starts to maximize protection to ourselves and those around us.”

Misinformation Still Rampant

Misinformation about vaccines has also played a role in hesitancy to be vaccinated, she said. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the Internet about vaccines and it can be hard for people to tell what is a reputable source and what is misinformation.”

Vaccine hesitancy, which ranges from misgiving to outright resistance, became a far greater issue than it has been historically during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the flood of misinformation about the novel vaccines, and it has shown staying power. New research published in BMJ² underscores the tenacity of the myths and exaggerated negative stories that continue to circulate despite ongoing mitigation efforts.

The impact of misinformation extends beyond vaccination against seasonal respiratory viruses. In a survey last year, researchers from University of Michigan School of Public Health found that among parents of children aged 0 to 17 years, 11% believed that childhood vaccines are less safe, 12% believed they are less important, and 13% believed they are less effective "since the start of the pandemic."³ They also found that negative beliefs about childhood vaccines were clustered in places with low COVID-19 vaccination rates. "Beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine have spillover with beliefs about childhood vaccines," survey authors wrote in the journal Vaccine.³ The concentration of negative beliefs in specific areas poses a danger to those communities for outbreaks of otherwise vaccine-preventable diseases, they warned.³

Colburn said patients are more likely to accept a vaccine if a trusted healthcare provider specifically recommends it. “I talk about vaccines at every visit with my patients,” she said. “If they are hesitant, I ask open-ended, nonjudgmental questions to try and understand their perspective and identify any questions they may have. When patients see that I am genuinely concerned about their health and feel our relationship is built on trust and respect, they are more likely to accept my recommendations for vaccination.”

Physicians and health plans, Colburn said, can address misinformation by providing high quality patient education materials from reputable sources in easy-to-understand language. “Also, building a long-standing relationship based on trust and respect will encourage patients to come to their healthcare providers for information, rather than websites promoting misinformation.”

The Ohio State University survey was conducted by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform, a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. The data were conducted from August 16, 2024, to August 18, 2024.

References
1. New national survey shows hesitancy about vaccines this fall. New release. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. September 12, 2024. Accessed September 20, 2024. https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/vaccine-survey
2. Ruggeri K, Vanderslott S, Yamada Y, et al. Behavioural interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy driven by misinformation on social media. BMJ 2024;384:e076542. doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-076542
3. Grills LA, Wagner AL. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parental vaccine hesitancy: A cross-sectional survey. Vaccine. 2023;41(41):6127-6133. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X23009775?via%3Dihub