Fewer than half of adults get flu shot

The claim: “Did you know: in the last 10 years less than half of adults in the US received a flu shot?” — U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Pilot Point.

Burgess made the claim on Twitter, as he encouraged his followers to get vaccinated for the flu.

PolitiFact ruling: True. Burgess’ claim about the number of adults who have gotten flu shots is on the money.

Discussion

Health officials are doubling down on calls for people to get flu shots this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic to reduce the burden on health care workers already battling COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual flu vaccine to ward off seasonal influenza viruses, which tend to peak during fall and winter.

Estimates from the CDC show that, since 2010, fewer than half of all adults in the U.S. got a flu shot each year during flu season.

The percentage of vaccinated adults each year has fluctuated, reaching a high of 43.6 percent in 2014 and a low of 37.1 percent in 2017, the most recent year with available data.

“Depending on the specific age groups, some are vaccinated more than others,” said Dr. Pedro Piedra, a professor of molecular virology, microbiology and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “Older adults generally have high vaccination coverage compared to the general public. Likewise for young children under 5 years of age, you’ll see vaccination coverage that is generally much better than that of the general healthy adult.”

Vaccination coverage among adults over 65 has ranged from a high of 66.7 percent in 2014 to a low of 59.6 percent in 2017, staying above the 50 percent mark for the past 10 years.

The age group with the lowest percentage receiving flu shots is those between 18 and 49. Vaccination coverage for this group

ranged from a high of 33.6 percent in 2016 to a low of 26.9 percent in 2017.

For children, vaccination rates are higher — nearly 70 percent of children under 4 were vaccinated for the flu each of the past 10 years. For all children 17 or younger, an average of 56.6 percent

received a flu shot for each of the past 10 years.

Part of the reason more older adults and younger children get flu shots is because they tend to be in doctors’ offices at higher frequencies than younger adults, which puts them in front of physicians who encourage them to get vaccinated.

“Adults aren’t like kids; it’s not like you go to the doctor every three months or every six

months,” said Dr. Jewel Mullen, associate dean for health equity at the University of Texas’ Dell Medical School. “At best, maybe some go once a year. So those opportunities are missed.”

Mullen said the reasons that vaccine numbers are so low are dependent on several factors including a combination of misinformation about influenza infections, the vaccine and how frequently shots are necessary.

Cost can also be a factor, Mullen said. Flu shots are generally free with most medical insurance, but some plans require co-pays and the cost of a flu shot without insurance can range from $40 to $70, or more for high-dose vaccines.

Ideally, Piedra said, roughly 80 percent of all people would get flu shots each year.

“Not only would that offer greater direct protection, but you’d have greater indirect protection,” he said. “Direct protection is if you receive a vaccine, you receive a direct benefit of the vaccine. Indirect means those who have not been vaccinated, but they receive an indirect benefit when they are surrounded by those who have been vaccinated. This reduces the risk that the virus will be released and transmitted through that community.”