Flu season is here: there’s a call to get vaccinated, but only one in two older people do so
Vaccinations are getting underway across the regions, alongside adverts promoting immunisation. Last year, the proportion of people aged 65 and over who were vaccinated fell to 49.8 per cent. Schillaci: ‘It’s a way of protecting yourself and others’
Italians’ reluctance towards vaccines shows no sign of abating and is even affecting those who most need protection against the flu virus, which last year left over 16 million Italians bedridden: the proportion of older people who chose to get vaccinated last season fell, for the first time in a decade, to less than half (49.8 per cent) of those aged 65 and over, whilst, when the entire population is taken into account, fewer than one in five Italians (18.9 per cent) sought protection. Yet, in recent days, with the arrival of the first cold snap, the flu has started to circulate again alongside other respiratory viruses, including Covid.
Hence the experts’ call for people to get vaccinated to avert the most serious consequences, given that, in the worst seasons, the flu can claim as many as 8,000–10,000 lives and lead to thousands of hospital admissions. And whilst the regions are starting to vaccinate the most vulnerable right now – earlier than in previous years – with Emilia, Marche and Sicily joined those who had already started earlier, such as Lombardy, whilst others will follow suit in the coming days – the Ministry of Health is preparing a massive information campaign on TV, radio and social media to convince sceptics and the ‘uninformed’ to protect themselves with a campaign – ‘The vaccine: the answer that protects you’ – which will once again promote vaccination as a means of preventing the flu and its complications. “Getting the flu jab is a way of protecting yourself and others, especially those who are most vulnerable,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci emphasised to *Il Sole 24 Ore*. In particular, the advert will centre on a doctor ready to answer the questions patients most frequently ask about the flu jab. This information campaign aims to boost vaccination rates, which, as mentioned, last year saw 49.8 per cent of those aged over 65 get vaccinated, compared with 52.5 per cent the year before, 53.3 per cent in the previous season and 56.7 per cent in 2022–2023. These figures are steadily declining and are a far cry from the 65.3 per cent achieved at the height of the pandemic – in 2020–21 – and, in any case, well below the minimum target of 75 per cent set by the WHO for this vaccination.
A reluctance to get vaccinated which, unfortunately, as mentioned, also affects the most vulnerable, and which can be explained by a combination of factors: first and foremost, vaccine fatigue following the pandemic – Covid vaccinations have all but ceased – combined with persistent prejudices about vaccinations, as demonstrated, for example, by the resurgence of measles, with Italia recording the highest number of cases in Europe (see separate article on this page).
For GPs, the failure to meet vaccination coverage targets is down to a number of factors: patient uptake, the availability of doses and difficulties in accessing them, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. “We must overcome organisational fragmentation and ensure easy access to vaccination registers,” emphasised Niccolò Biancalani, the newly elected secretary of FIMMG, in recent days. Meanwhile, Anna Teresa Palamara, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, pointed out that ‘the vast majority of severe cases of flu, including those requiring hospitalisation, affect unvaccinated people’.
As is the case every year, vaccinations will be available from GPs and paediatricians, as well as at vaccination centres and in pharmacies; open days will also be organised in various regions. As set out in the Ministry of Health circular published on 23 June, vaccination is recommended and offered free of charge to a large section of the population: anyone aged 60 or over, pregnant women and those who have recently given birth, children aged between 6 months and 6 years, those with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of complications and their carers, and those admitted to long-term care facilities. Vaccines are also recommended and offered free of charge to key public service workers (such as healthcare staff, police officers and firefighters). However, in many regions, the free vaccination programme will be extended to the entire population in a second phase.
