Data: COVID is far deadlier than the flu

So why have twice as many state residents chosen to receive just the flu vaccine?

Dr. Manisha Juthani, Connecticut’s public health commissioner, looks at the data and finds herself confused.

So far this fall, COVID-19 has contributed to 180 deaths in the state, according to Department of Public Health data. Influenza,

meanwhile, has contributed to eight. Yet more than twice as many people in Connecticut have been vaccinated against the flu than against COVID.

“I go around and people will be like, ‘Oh, I got my flu shot, should I get my COVID shot?’ ” Juthani said last week, before the more updated numbers were available. “And I tell them, ‘You know how many people have died from flu? Seven. You know how many people have died from COVID? One hundred seventy-two.’ ” “They go, ‘What?’ ” Beyond deaths, which are concentrated among older residents and those with serious underlying conditions, the state has seen hundreds of COVID hospitalizations each week and an uncountable number of new cases. The flu, by comparison, has driven a few dozen hospitalizations each week.

But while COVID remains the far bigger threat, you’d never know it from vaccination data. According to state figures, 480,618 people in Connecticut had gotten an updated COVID vaccine as of Dec. 16, compared to 1.2 million who had gotten a flu shot.

The two vaccines are each available to anyone six months or older, and most health officials — including Juthani — recommend getting both. So why the disparity?

Juthani guesses there might also be a “psychological challenge” for people who got COVID shots several times over the past three years and don’t understand why they need another one. She also wonders if people who’ve had mild cases of COVID have come away thinking the disease isn’t overly serious. Some may even consider themselves immune, now that they’ve had the virus.