Peer-reviewed article
Trends in influenza vaccine disparities in the U.S. following the introduction of COVID-19: Insights from the national health interview survey.
Margaret L Lind, Emily Goldmann, Gregory S Lalonde ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined influenza vaccination coverage in the United States between 2020 and 2023 using national survey data, focusing on racial and ethnic disparities. Overall vaccination coverage remained around 50%, below the national goal of 70%, with non-Hispanic Black populations consistently showing the lowest coverage despite making the second-largest gains. The research found that vaccination coverage declined among non-Hispanic White people, particularly among young children aged 0-4 years and insured people facing financial barriers to healthcare. The authors conclude that addressing financial barriers and using targeted messaging could help improve vaccination uptake and reduce persistent disparities.
Key points
- Influenza vaccination coverage in the US ranged from 49.1% to 50.1% across 2020-2023, below the Healthy People 2030 goal of 70%
- Non-Hispanic Black people had the lowest vaccination coverage for all seasons but experienced the second-largest increase (7.5 percentage points)
- Vaccination coverage declined among non-Hispanic White people by 2.7 percentage points, with the steepest decline in children aged 0-4 years (9.2 percentage points)
- Insured people with financial barriers to healthcare showed a 6.5 percentage point decline in vaccination coverage
- Racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination coverage persisted despite some gains among historically unvaccinated populations
Limitations
This study relies on self-reported vaccination data rather than medical records, which may introduce recall bias. The analysis examines correlation between risk factors and disparities but cannot definitively establish causal mechanisms for the observed trends.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Seasonal influenza vaccination coverage in the US remains below the Healthy People 2030 goal of 70 % and differs by race and ethnicity. This study examines the impact of flu risk factors and healthcare access on racial and ethnic disparities in coverage. METHODS: We estimated vaccination coverage among the US population (≥6 months) using 2020-2023 National Health Interview Survey data collected August-June. Coverage was estimated via Kaplan Meier analysis and self-reported vaccination between July and May in the prior 12 months. RESULTS: In the analytic sample (N = 131,147), vaccination coverage ranged between 49.1 % (CI: 48.2,50.0 %) in 2021-2022 to 50.1 % (CI:49.2,51.0 %) in 2022-2023. Non-Hispanic Black people had the lowest coverage for all seasons but experienced the second largest increase in coverage (7.5 [CI:3.4,11.3 percentage points]). Vaccination coverage declined among non-Hispanic White people by 2.7 (CI:1.3,4.2 percentage points), with the greatest declines in this group among children 0-4 years (9.2 [CI:0.5,17.1 percentage points]) and insured people with financial barriers to healthcare (6.5 [CI:2.4,11.1 percentage points]). CONCLUSIONS: Despite notable gains among historically unvaccinated populations, disparities persisted and coverage among non-Hispanic Black people remained substantially below the Healthy People 2030 goal. Study findings suggest that addressing financial barriers and targeted messaging may help improve uptake.