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By Jennifer Rigby and Julie Steenhuysen
LONDON/CHICAGO, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Low vaccination rates in the face of the latest versions of COVID-19 and the flu are putting pressure on fitness systems this winter, more sensible public fitness officials told Reuters.
In the U. S. , several European countries and other parts of the world, there have been reports of an increase in hospitalizations similar to respiratory infections in recent weeks. Death rates have also risen among older adults in some areas, though well below the peak of the COVID pandemic.
Spain’s government has reinstated mask-wearing requirements at healthcare facilities, as have some U.S. hospital networks.
“Too many people are in need of serious medical care for flu, for COVID, when we can prevent it,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s interim director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness.
He cited “incredibly low” flu and COVID vaccination rates in many countries this season, as the world tries to move beyond the pandemic and its restrictions.
Governments have struggled to address the current dangers posed by COVID and the benefits of vaccination since signaling a global public health emergency in May 2023, infectious disease experts and health officials said.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Preventive Immunization Survey, only 19. 4% of US adults have received this season’s COVID vaccine, despite the recommendation that all adults receive an up-to-date vaccine to protect against serious illness. disease.
That compares roughly to 17% of adults who won the bivalent booster in the 2022-2023 season, based on actual vaccine knowledge reported to the CDC across states.
Nearly half of U.S. adults over 18 got a flu shot this season (44.9%), roughly the same as last year (44%), according to the CDC.
“We don’t think enough people have gotten the updated COVID vaccine,” CDC director Mandy Cohen said in an interview. “Folks still aren’t understanding that COVID is still a more severe disease than flu.”
VACCINE FATIGUE
Influenza accounted for 5. 2% of emergency room visits in the U. S. The U. S. population was 3%, compared to 3% for COVID in the week ending Dec. 30. Still, COVID accounted for 10. 5 hospitalizations per 100,000 that year, compared to 6. 1 per 100,000 during influenza.
Most of the modern vaccines used in the U. S. The U. S. and European Union vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer with its German partner BioNTech or Moderna.
In Europe, influenza is circulating at a higher rate than COVID, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. A total of 24% of a representative pattern of tests were positive in the last week of 2023, up from 19% a year. fortnight before.
The rates are in line with past flu seasons, said Edoardo Colzani, an expert on respiratory viruses at the ECDC. But “now we have COVID-19 as an unwanted new host,” he said.
The ECDC had no vaccination rates for the continent compared to flu or COVID, but Colzani said early insights showed the COVID vaccination rate was well below pandemic levels.
In Europe, the new COVID shots are recommended for high-risk groups only, such as seniors and the immunocompromised. Among these groups, the WHO says there should be 100% coverage.
COVID rates also increased in the Southern Hemisphere over the summer, the WHO said, because it is still a seasonal virus.
Last month, 850,000 new COVID cases and 118,000 new hospitalizations were reported worldwide, an increase from November of 52% and 23%, respectively, according to the WHO, which added that the actual numbers were likely higher.
Vaccines are still highly effective at preventing severe illness, even if they block infection, experts say.
A recent study published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases from Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital in Sweden found that the updated vaccine, which targets the XBB. 1. 5 coronavirus variant, reduced the risk of hospitalization from COVID by 76. 1% in people affected by newer variants, according to public fitness records of adults over the age of 65.
It is estimated that this year’s flu vaccines, manufactured through manufacturers, would reduce the threat of hospitalization by 52%.
But “COVID vaccine fatigue” is hindering its adoption, Colzani said.
In Italy, for example, 8.6% of the eligible population have had their third COVID booster after the initial vaccination series, Ministry of Health data from Jan. 7 showed.
The data for flu is not yet available, but a study by Federfarma, the association of Italian pharmacies, said 15% of Italians had been vaccinated against flu this autumn, compared to just over 20% last season. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; additional reporting by Emilio Parodi in Milan and Andrew Silver in Shanghai; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot)