Flu vaccine uptake ‘stubbornly low’

Report lays out plan to boost rates

Amid a “triple threat” of COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza that’s been pummelling the health care system, a new report has raised concerns about vaccination rates for the flu failing to reach the Public Health Agency of Canada’s coverage goal for older adults.

A report from the National Institute on Ageing released Tuesday lays out a five-step plan to improve “stubbornly low” flu-shot vaccination rates. The institute is a think tank based out of Toronto Metropolitan University that focuses on Canada’s aging population in terms of health care, financial security and social well-being.

Influenza causes an estimated 175,000 emergency department visits in Canada annually, along with 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths, making it one of the country’s top causes of death.

“As Canada enters what is expected to be our worst flu season in recent years while still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that Canadians get vaccinated against influenza,” the report reads. “Getting vaccinated this flu season will be very important both to reduce the risk of being infected with influenza, COVID-19 and RSV at the same time — and experiencing the potentially severe complications that could arise.”

The survey of 1,503 respondents was conducted in August in collaboration with the National Institute on Ageing, Seqirus — an influenza vaccination producer that provided funding for the paper — and Leger. The writing and recommendations by Dr. Samir Sinha, the director of health and policy research at NIA, and a team of policy analysts and researchers were independently produced, the report states. The findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The survey found that because of a perceived lack of risk about the flu, historically people have not been driven to roll up their sleeves.

For the last two flu seasons, about 70 per cent of older Canadians reported getting the flu vaccine, 10 percentage points lower than the Public Health Agency of Canada’s goalpost. (That’s about 30 percentage points higher than the figure for all adults over 18.) Data for the current flu season in Ontario won’t be available until after it is over.

According to the survey, 30 per cent of Canadians 18 and older said there was “no specific reason” they didn’t receive a vaccine, compared with 23 per cent of Canadians 65 and older. The second reason for those who didn’t receive a flu shot was that they didn’t get around to it, while the third was they perceived themselves as healthy or never get the flu.

It’s a common sentiment, but one that should be challenged, said Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, a national seniors advocacy organization that releases a vaccination “report card” for the country each year. “That’s kind of like saying, ‘I never get in a car accident.’ You may be lucky and never had the flu, but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow you might not get it,” she said in an interview.

Compared with the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which attempted to provide all Canadians with at least two doses of such vaccines — referred to by the report as “one of the world’s highest vaccination rates” against the disease — the numbers are stark. As of October, the country has successfully vaccinated 90 per cent of people 12 and older with at least one COVID-19 dose, and 89 per cent with two in less than a year.

“Canada was able to achieve this high vaccination rate within less than a year, demonstrating that widespread immunization in a timely manner is an achievable goal,” the report says.

Among older Canadians, routinely receiving an annual flu vaccine was the most reported reason for getting a flu shot at 70 per cent, the survey found. This is important, Tamblyn Watts said, but noted the province doesn’t make it particularly easy for folks to get vaccinated, especially if people need to be persuaded to make time to get one or need help to find available clinics or pharmacies in their area.

To increase influenza vaccination rates, NIA suggests improving messaging about the importance of such vaccines, especially for older Canadians, improving access to receiving COVID-19 boosters and flu vaccines at the same time, providing senior-specific flu vaccines for free to all older Canadians, making vaccinations more widely available and creating more multilingual and culturally inclusive resources.

‘‘ You may be lucky and never had the flu, but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow you might not get it.

L AURA TAMBLYN WATTS CEO OF CANAGE

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF AN ONGOING PROJECT IN SUPPORT OF HEALTHY AGING THAT THE TORONTO STAR IS WORKING ON IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGEING AND TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY.