Despite the emergence of new variants and even after weeks of rising COVID-19 hospitalizations nationwide, 40 percent of Americans are not planning to get the new vaccine, according to survey data from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
However, these adults are more likely to get vaccinated for the flu. Fewer than half of the respondents — 43 percent — said they were unsure or did not plan to get this fall's flu vaccine.
Of adults over 60 who are eligible for the new respiratory syncytial virus vaccination, only 40 percent said they plan to get it.
The data reflects an ongoing trend of a decline in general vaccination rates nationally.
"The NFID data — which show complacency around vaccination against flu, COVID-19, RSV and pneumococcal disease — are concerning," NFID President Patricia Stinchfield, RN, stated in the Sept. 28 news release. "These diseases can be serious, even in healthy children and adults, but the good news is that we now have prevention tools available to help protect people against severe illness and complications. We just need to use them."