2020 to 2024 Saw Drop in Flu Vaccine Uptake Among U.S. Adults

FRIDAY, July 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — There was an overall decrease in influenza vaccine uptake among U.S. adults from 2020 to 2024, according to a study published online July 16 in PLOS Global Public Health.

Hannah Melchinger, from the Peter O”Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues conducted two distinct, cross-sectional surveys assessing influenza vaccine uptake among U.S. adults.

The researchers found that from 2020 to 2024, overall flu vaccine uptake decreased, with more than 60 percent of U.S. adults surveyed in May 2020 indicating that they either received the influenza vaccine recently or intended to receive it in the coming months; this compared with 54 percent of U.S. adults surveyed in October 2024. Significant declines were seen among demographic groups usually associated with higher vaccine uptake. People who were older than 35 years (11 percent decrease), male (13 percent), White (7 percent), non-Hispanic (5 percent), or more educated (16 percent) were significantly less likely to receive the influenza vaccine in 2024 versus 2022. 

“Changes in attitudes and intentions towards vaccination during and since the COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with several factors, including changes in perceived risk and the rise of vaccine-related mis- and disinformation,” the authors write.

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