Less than half of Idahoans get the flu vaccine every year. Have you been vaccinated?
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POCATELLO — Less than half of all Idahoans receive the influenza vaccine every year, which is lower than the national average.
Public health officials want those numbers to rise, and are speaking out about the importance of getting the vaccine to decrease people’s chance of catching the virus or being hospitalized over it.
“When people get their flu shot there are better health outcomes and healthier communities,” said Allison Bischoff, Clinical Services Director for Southeastern Idaho Public Health.
Nikki Sayer, Head Nurse of Immunizations at Eastern Idaho Public Health, echoed this sentiment, saying vaccines are about more than just protecting the person who receives it.
“It’s important not only to protect yourself against the flu, but it’s also important to protect your family and your community against circulating viruses,” Sayer said.
The last flu season (2022-2023) had the lowest percentage of people receiving vaccines in the last decade, with only 36.9% of Idaho’s population covered. In Idaho, the average percentage of the population receiving vaccines over the last 10 years is 40.9%. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the nationwide percentage over 18 years old that received a flu vaccine in the 2021-2022 season was 49.4%.
Locally, the numbers are a bit higher than statewide — but not by much. According to data from the Department of Health and Welfare, only 39% of people received their flu vaccination within Southeastern Idaho Public Health’s boundaries in 2021, which is the most current year data was available. Eastern Idaho Public Health had 38.1 percent of its population receive a flu vaccine.
The percentage of the population receiving vaccines has declined in the last two years, which both Bischoff and Sayer attribute to a number of factors, including vaccine fatigue. While the 2020-2021 flu season had a 10-year high of 46% of people receiving the vaccine, the following year dropped to 42.3%.
“They’ve been hearing about vaccines,” Sayer said. “You know, go get your COVID vaccine, and people are just tired of hearing the message.”
Another contributing factor has been vaccine misinformation, which has increased in recent years.
“We’ve had lots of misinformation about vaccines being shared and then that got really heightened during COVID,” Bischoff said. “It really just leads to distrust in vaccines and their effectiveness.”
Sayer said the reason why some people feel like they’ve caught the flu after receiving a vaccine is because it’s immunizing the receiver from multiple viral strains that are expected to be the most common in that season.
“Some side effects of the vaccine includes some flu like symptoms, but they are not going to put you in the hospital, like influenza itself,” Sayer said.
People who have chronic health conditions are more likely to have their condition worsen and be hospitalized for influenza. When they and the people around them receive their flu vaccine, the chances of that happening are greatly reduced.
Some people die of influenza every year. Between 2011 and 2023 in Idaho, deaths have ranged from one to eight people per year. There were eight deaths in the 2018-2019 season and in the 2022-2023 season.
Sayer said the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine was a testament to the effectiveness of vaccines.
“There wasn’t any immunity against the COVID virus and we saw many deaths and hospitalizations and sicknesses at the beginning and then the vaccine rolled out and things dramatically decreased,” Sayer said. “So that’s one testament to vaccines and how it works.”
For people who want to get their flu shot, there’s a number of options they can utilize. Vaccines.gov shows where people can find pharmacies that offer the vaccine. SIPH partnered with the Idaho Immunization Program to offer vaccines at a lower cost for people who are uninsured or underinsured. EIPH is offering a drive through vaccine clinic on Oct. 19.