Many older adults show interest in getting vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus

The primary Americans over age 60 just began rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, now that brand-new vaccines have began to arrive at pharmacies and clinics.

Hundreds of thousands more older adults may do the identical in coming weeks and months, a brand new University of Michigan poll suggests, as they seek protection against a virus that is very good at infecting older lungs.

But nearly half of older adults have no idea concerning the latest RSV vaccines that received approval earlier this yr, the poll finds. And a few groups of older adults show much less interest in getting the RSV vaccine than others.

In all, 52% of individuals between the ages of 60 and 80 had heard the brand new vaccine option was coming, in response to the brand new data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging gathered in July.

Asked how interested they’re in getting vaccinated, 21% of those that answered said they’re very interested, and one other 43% said they’re somewhat interested.

The virus poses probably the most danger to older adults who’ve lung, heart, kidney or immune system conditions, or diabetes, and those that live in nursing homes or other group settings. But only 41% of older adults who say their health is fair or poor had heard of the RSV vaccine, compared with 53% of those that rated their health nearly as good to excellent.

Alternatively, over 65% of those with a chronic health condition said they were very or somewhat fascinated about getting the vaccine, whether or not that they had heard of it before being polled.

Risk from RSV infection rises with age, and so did interest in getting vaccinated against it. In all, 70% of individuals of their 70s said they were very or somewhat fascinated about getting vaccinated, compared with 60% of those of their 60s.

“As we prepare for the primary RSV season when a vaccine will probably be available for older adults, these early data suggest a necessity for public health officials, primary care providers, pharmacies and others to focus on their outreach and awareness-building efforts,” said Preeti Malani, M.D., senior advisor to the poll who has training in geriatrics in addition to infectious disease and is a physician at Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center.

She added, “We found an association between awareness and interest, with 68% of those that had heard of the vaccine saying they were very interested or somewhat fascinated about getting vaccinated, compared with 60% who hadn’t heard of the vaccine until asked by the poll team.”

The poll is predicated on the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine.

More about RSV

RSV infections of the lungs and airways send as many as 160,000 older adults to the hospital annually, and kill as many as 10,000 of them, at a value of greater than $1.3 billion a yr.

That is why the 2 latest vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this spring after tests showed they reduce the chance of significant illness corresponding to pneumonia. It is also why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially advisable them for people over 60, in consultation with a health care provider. A University of Michigan team’s economic model helped inform the advice.

The CDC’s advice implies that Medicare, Medicaid and most private medical insurance plans will cover your complete cost of the vaccines for people over 60.

Malani notes that older adults who’re recurrently around children needs to be aware that RSV is usually transmitted at daycares, schools, and in the house. Infected children often have mild disease or no symptoms, though infants and preschool-aged children have the next risk of significant illness and hospitalization than school-aged children. A shot to stop RSV for infants and young toddlers also recently received FDA approval and CDC advice.

More poll findings:

• Gender: More women (57%) than men (46%) had heard of the RSV vaccine, but there was no significant gender difference in interest in being vaccinated.
• Education and income:
  • 56% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher had heard of the vaccine, compared with 46% of those with some college or less. Meanwhile, 55% of those with annual household incomes over $60,000 had heard of the vaccine, versus 47% of those with incomes below that threshold.
  • Those with a university degree (68%) and people in higher income households (66%) were more prone to say they’re somewhat interested or very fascinated about getting an RSV vaccine than those with fewer years of education (58%) or in lower income households (60%)
• Race/ethnicity: There have been no significant observed differences in vaccine awareness amongst those of various racial or ethnic backgrounds. But differences emerged when it got here to interest in vaccination: 65% of White, non-Hispanic respondents said they were somewhat interested or very interested, compared with 56% of Black and 56% of Hispanic respondents.

The brand new data come from a poll administered July 17 through August 7 to 1,850 people aged 60 to 80 who answered the query about awareness of the RSV vaccine;1,817 of them also answered the query about interest in receiving it. The poll methodology is described here.

For more concerning the National Poll on Healthy Aging, including past reports on COVID and influenza vaccination amongst older adults, visit https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/