Commonly identified reasons for poor uptake of these vaccines include low levels of confidence and not prioritizing vaccinations. In contrast, uptake rates of the pneumococcal vaccine is 69% in adults 65 and older, and shingles vaccine uptake is only 54% among adults aged 70–79, with only slight increases in uptake rates for both vaccines seen in recent years. Uptake of the annual influenza vaccine among older adults in the UK is consistently around 70%, reaching over 80% uptake during the 2020–2021 influenza season, likely as a result of intensified vaccination campaigns due to COVID-19. However, acceptance rates across these vaccines vary. Due to older adults’ increased risk of acquiring these illnesses, and their increased likelihood of developing complications as a result, high levels of vaccination uptake in this age group are particularly important. In addition, older adults are also routinely offered vaccines against seasonal influenza, pneumococcal disease, and shingles. In most countries, including the UK, older adults have been identified as a priority group for receiving COVID-19 vaccines. As multiple safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 have been developed and approved for use, factors such as varying efficacy rates across these COVID-19 vaccines, effectiveness against newly identified variants of concern, and a reported link of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the rare development of blood clots have only intensified concerns about vaccinating against COVID-19. Vaccination against COVID-19 has also been highlighted as a critical component of the recovery strategy for the UK to return to normal. Since COVID-19 was first identified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020, there has been worldwide attention placed on controlling the spread of the virus and the development of effective vaccines. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. įunding: The study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government (Ref: Ref: CGA/19/52) research grant awarded to LW, LBN, SR, NC. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: The quantitative data that support the findings of this study are openly available via Open Science Framework at. Received: JAccepted: DecemPublished: December 23, 2021Ĭopyright: © 2021 Gallant et al.
PLoS ONE 16(12):Įditor: Anat Gesser-Edelsburg, University of Haifa, ISRAEL Citation: Gallant AJ, Nicholls LAB, Rasmussen S, Cogan N, Young D, Williams L (2021) Changes in attitudes to vaccination as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study of older adults in the UK.
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