‘We’re Absolutely Making It Too Hard’: The Complexity of Adult Immunization Delivery Hinders Vaccine Uptake

October 26, 2023

(STAT News) – Adult immunization rates are perennially suboptimal. Fewer than half of adults in the U.S. get a flu shot. Only about 1 in 5 adults got a Covid booster in 2022; even among the highest-risk group, adults 65 and older, only 43% got last fall’s Covid shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in 2019, only 22% of adults were up to date on all the vaccines they should have received.

Some of that may be due to vaccine hesitancy but more of it is likely due to the sheer difficulty of knowing what to get, when to get it, and how to get insurance coverage for the various shots, said Saad Omer, a vaccine expert who is dean of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at the University of Texas Southwestern. (Read More)