Close up of a pediatrician vaccinating his patient
Why are only half as many kids getting flu shots compared to last year?
-
Scott LaMar
Close up of a pediatrician vaccinating his patient
Airdate: Tuesday, November 29, 2022
About 128 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed this year compared to 140 million at this time last year and 156 million the year before. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The number of children getting vaccinated against the flu is way down too. In the UPMC system, more than 49,000 kids have been vaccinated against the flu so far. In 2021, 109,000 had gotten shots at this point and in 2020, almost 127,000 had been vaccinated.
All this comes at a time when we’re dealing with an increase in RSV cases and COVID is still infecting thousands across the country.
Why are many fewer kids getting flu shots and what impact will it have?
Appearing on The Spark Tuesday, Dr. John Goldman, an infectious disease specialist at UPMC in Central Pennsylvania said it’s not just children who aren’t getting flu shots but fewer people overall. Why? “I think part of what’s going on is the vaccine hesitancy, all the controversy about vaccines that we had with COVID. On the top of a lot of vaccine hesitancy that occurred before COVID has just led to almost a vaccine fatigue. People aren’t getting things like the flu shot nearly as much as they used to or nearly as much as they should be. Because, let’s face it, there’s been a lot of negative publicity about vaccines. And remember, this flu vaccine has been around for decades. This is not a new technology. This is an old technology. It is being literally given it to hundreds of people. And it’s very safe. But I really do think that people are, one, just more suspicious of vaccines in general because of all the negative publicity, the vaccine hesitancy, the vaccine denial with COVID. And I think there’s an element of vaccine fatigue. You know, some of us have gotten two COVID shots, three COVID boosters. And I think people to some extent are just tired of getting stuck in the arm.”
Goldman was asked whether fewer flue shots has resulted in more cases of the flu,”We don’t know yet because it’s so early. What we can say is that the levels of flu are much higher — five to ten times higher than they typically are for early December. The late November, early December. The hospitalizations are five to ten times higher than what they typically are for early December.”
Dr. Goldman talked about how to avoid the flu, “Obviously I’m going to say the best one is the flu shot. But the flu is spread by air to air contact or on surfaces. So if someone coughs into their hand, touches a doorknob, a light switch, a tabletop. It’s not uncommon for people. This flu survives for a couple of hours. You touch that doorknob, that light switch, that tabletop, and most of us touch our face about ten, 15 times an hour. Hand-washing is one of the things that will really prevent the flu. I do know people that have given their kids a bottle of hand sanitizer and sent them to school with it and told them to wash their hands every 20 minutes and those kids get less sick than their friends. The other thing is it is spread person to person. Anyone who’s had the flu knows you’re coughing, sneezing, and it’s hard to keep touching your hands or face, giving it to other people. So we really are encouraging people that are sick. Stay home. If your kid is sick, don’t send them to school.”
