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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

Date Submitted: Dec 23, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 18, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Apr 15, 2021

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Uptake of Influenza Vaccine: UK-Wide Observational Study

Bachtiger P, Adamson A, Chow JJ, Sisodia R, Quint JK, Peters N

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Uptake of Influenza Vaccine: UK-Wide Observational Study

JMIR Public Health Surveill 2021;7(4):e26734

DOI: 10.2196/26734

PMID: 33651708

PMCID: 8048709

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Uptake of Influenza Vaccine: A UK-Wide Observational Study

  • Patrik Bachtiger; 
  • Alexander Adamson; 
  • Ji-Jian Chow; 
  • Rupa Sisodia; 
  • Jennifer K Quint; 
  • Nicholas Peters

ABSTRACT

Background:

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK National Health Service (NHS) flu vaccination eligibility is extended this year to ~32.4 million (48.8%) of the population. Knowing intended uptake will inform supply and public health messaging to maximise vaccination.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to measure how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact uptake of the UK National Health Service's (NHS) expanded flu vaccination programme, and to inform reasons for or against vaccination.

Methods:

Intention to receive influenza vaccine in 2020-21 was asked of all registrants of the NHS’s largest electronic personal health record. Of those who were either newly or previously eligible but had not previously received influenza vaccination, multivariable logistic regression, and network analysis were used to examine reasons to have or decline vaccination.

Results:

Among 6,641 respondents, 945 (14.2%) were previously eligible but not vaccinated of whom 536 (56.7%) intend to receive flu vaccination in 2020/21, as do 466 (68.6%) of the newly eligible, increasing nationwide vaccination demand by ~50%. Intention to receive the flu vaccine was associated with increased age, index of multiple deprivation (IMD) quintile, and considering oneself at high risk from Covid-19. Among those eligible but intending not to be vaccinated in 2020/21, 164 (30.2%) gave misinformed reasons. 47 (49.9%) of previously unvaccinated healthcare workers will decline vaccination in 2020/21.

Conclusions:

In this sample, Covid-19 has increased acceptance of flu vaccination from 79.6% to 91.2% in those previously eligible, and 69% in the newly eligible. Meeting this demand for flu vaccination of ~26 million of the UK population is 50% higher than last year. This study is essential for informing resource planning and the need for effective messaging campaigns to address negative misconceptions, a strategy also necessary for Covid-19 vaccination programmes.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Bachtiger P, Adamson A, Chow JJ, Sisodia R, Quint JK, Peters N

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Uptake of Influenza Vaccine: UK-Wide Observational Study

JMIR Public Health Surveill 2021;7(4):e26734

DOI: 10.2196/26734

PMID: 33651708

PMCID: 8048709

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© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.