Good Question: How Many Of Us Get Flu Shots?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- This year's flu vaccine isn't a good match for this year's most common strains of influenza.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, only 48 percent of flu virus samples taken through last month were closely related to this year's North American vaccine.
But doctors say the vaccine is still the best protection against the virus. So, how many people get vaccinated against the flu?
During the 2013-2014 flu season, 46 percent of people were vaccinated. Rates were higher for pregnant women (50 percent), children (59 percent), older people (65 percent) and medical professionals (90 percent).
The rates had increased from the 2010-2011 season (42.3 percent), but nowhere near the 80 percent recommended by the CDC.
"In order to get herd immunity, you need 80- to 90-percent range," said Dr. James Welters, a family practitioner with Northwest Family Physicians. "By not getting it, you're potentially getting other people sick."
According to the Rand Corporation, the number one reason (28 percent) people don't get the shot is that they don't think they need it.
Another 16 percent of people just didn't get around to it, followed by 14 percent who don't believe in the vaccine and 14 percent who think it might make them sick.
"People say, 'I got sick when I got the flu shot, I got the flu from the shot,' which is not possible because it's a dead virus," Welters said.
Almost 92 percent of kindergarten-aged children are immunized against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), compared to 70 percent against influenza.
The Rand Corporation found the public health community needs to better inform and motivate the public, encourage special efforts to reach healthy young adults and offer one-on-one counseling with those most skeptical about the vaccine.
