Journal Article Ppublish 16 citations
PubMed: 37632235 DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad155
Exploring missed opportunities for influenza vaccination and influenza vaccine co-administration patterns among Italian older adults: a retrospective cohort study.
Eur J Public Health 33(6):1183-1187
Authors: Alexander Domnich, Andrea Orsi, Matilde Ogliastro, Carlo-Simone Trombetta, Marianna Scarpaleggia, Chiara Ceccaroli, Carla Amadio, Anna Raffo, Luca Berisso, Alla Yakubovich, Giacomo Zappa, Daniela Amicizia, Donatella Panatto, Giancarlo Icardi
Affiliations
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital-IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy.
- Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
- Interuniversity Research Center on Influenza and Other Transmissible Infections (CIRI-IT), Genoa, Italy.
- Local Health Unit 3 (ASL3), Genoa, Italy.
- Regional Health Agency of Liguria (ALiSa), Genoa, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Missed opportunities constitute a main driver of suboptimal seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) coverage in older adults. Vaccine co-administration is a way to reduce these missed opportunities. In this study, we quantified missed opportunities for SIV, identified some of their socio-structural correlates and documented SIV co-administration patterns.
METHODS
In this registry-based retrospective cohort study, we verified the SIV status of all subjects aged ≥65 years who received at least one dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), pneumococcal or herpes zoster vaccines during the 2022/23 influenza season. The frequency of concomitant same-day administration of SIV with other target vaccines was also assessed.
RESULTS
Among 41 112, 5482 and 3432 older adults who received ≥1 dose of COVID-19, pneumococcal and herpes zoster vaccines, missed opportunities for SIV accounted for 23.3%, 5.0% and 13.2%, respectively. Younger, male and foreign-born individuals were generally more prone to missing SIV. The co-administration of SIV with other recommended vaccines was relatively low, being 11.0%, 53.1% and 17.1% in COVID-19, pneumococcal and herpes zoster cohorts, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
A sizeable proportion of older adults who received other recommended vaccines during the last influenza season did not receive SIV. This share of missed opportunities, which are subject to some social inequalities, may be addressed by increasing vaccine co-administration rates and implementing tailored health promotion interventions.
MeSH
Epidemiology, Vaccines, Cohort Studies, Public Health, Vaccination, Covid-19, Herpes Zoster, Influenza, Human, Influenza Vaccines
Cited by
- Rollout of the 2022/2023 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination and Correlates of the Use of Enhanced Vaccines among Italian Adults. Vaccines (Basel), 2023
- The safety of co-administration of recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix) and influenza vaccines in the elderly in VAERS during 2018-2024. Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2025
- Disparities in Seasonal Influenza Vaccination in Europe. Immun Inflamm Dis, 2025
- Characteristics of the First Italian Older Adults Vaccinated with an Adjuvanted Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine. Medicina (Kaunas), 2025