Hesitation to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is not a new phenomenon, as scientists reveal the effort to convince people to get a flu shot has been an uphill battle for decades.
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Dr. Rupali Limaye, Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told KCBS Radio "Ask An Expert" the chief reason why people avoid the flu shot is not applicable to the coronavirus vaccine, but the two are still placed in the same bucket.
"It's been a real challenge because there's been a lot of information coming out about COVID and that’s affected our influenza vaccine uptake," she said.
Since flu coverage rates have been tracked, 43% to 47% of eligible Americans over the age of six months are vaccinated annually. In 2021, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a small increase in vaccinations, but numbers have consistently ranged in the low 40s, Limaye said.
Even in the last devastating flu season of 1968, the number of people willing to get a vaccination remained the same. Limaye theorized that many choose not to get a flu shot because of the vaccine's low efficacy rate.
"Effectiveness of the flu shot varies every year," she said. "We essentially develop the flu shot based on the previous season's strain, so if the strains are different from what we had last year it's not going to be as effective. I think a lot of people see that and they say, 'if it's only 40% effective or 30% effective, I don't really need to get it.'"
Despite what some may believe, this efficacy is not reflected in coronavirus, as the COVID-19 vaccine is much more effective, Limaye reassured.
Currently, about 60% of eligible adults have received their COVID-19 vaccination, leaving two fifths of the adult population vulnerable to hospitalization and severe disease from coronavirus.
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