THURSDAY, Dec. 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Many nursing home residents and adults have not been vaccinated for influenza, COVID-19, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for the 2023 to 2024 season, according to research published in the Dec. 22 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Hannah E. Reses, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined COVID-19, influenza, and RSV vaccination coverage among U.S. nursing home residents during the 2023 to 2024 respiratory virus season. The researchers found that 33.1 percent of nursing home residents were up to date with COVID-19 vaccination as of Dec. 10, 2023. Coverage with influenza and RSV vaccines was 72.0 and 9.8 percent, respectively, among residents at 20.2 and 19.4 percent of facilities that elected to report.
Carla L. Black, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the National Immunization Survey-Adult COVID Module for adults aged 18 years and older to monitor influenza, COVID-19, and RSV vaccination coverage. The researchers found that an estimated 42.2 and 18.3 percent of adults aged 18 years and older reported receiving an influenza and updated 2023 to 2024 COVID-19 vaccine, respectively, by Dec. 9, 2023; 17.0 percent of adults aged 60 years and older had received an RSV vaccine. There was variation noted in coverage by demographic characteristics.
“Although influenza, updated COVID-19, and RSV vaccination has slowed for the 2023 to 24 respiratory season, vaccination is recommended to continue while viruses are circulating, and many unvaccinated persons continue to report intent to be vaccinated,” Black and colleagues write.
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