CT Ranked #4 in Percent of Population Receiving Flu Shots in 2019-20 Season

Connecticut had the nation’s 4th highest rate of flu vaccination coverage among adults 18 years and older during last year’s flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

There was large between-state variability in flu vaccination coverage among adults, ranging from 41.4% in Idaho to 56.8% in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to CDC data.  Connecticut’s percentage, 56.3%, ranked just behind Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, and ahead of Virginia, Nebraska, South Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa in the top 10.  The lowest flu vaccination rate in the U.S. during last year’s flu season was in Idaho (41.4%), Florida (41.8%) and Alaska (42.1%).  

To reduce the risk of influenza (flu) illness, hospitalization and death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine annual flu vaccination for all people 6 months and older who do not have contraindications.

During the 2019–20 flu season nationally, flu vaccination coverage increased for both children and adults compared with the previous two flu seasons.  The CDC noted, however, that “racial/ethnic disparities in flu vaccination coverage persisted. Non-Hispanic black children had lower flu vaccination coverage than children in all other racial/ethnic groups, while Hispanic adults and non-Hispanic black adults had lower flu vaccination coverage than non-Hispanic white adults.”

The CDC has said in recent months that getting a flu vaccine is “more important than ever” during the current flu season, “because it is likely that flu viruses and the virus that causes COVID-19 will both be spreading in the United States.”  The CDC has also indicated that “a flu vaccination not only reduces a person’s risk from flu but may also help conserve potentially scarce healthcare resources.”

According to the CDC, for the 2020–21 season, vaccine manufacturers have projected they will provide as many as 194–198 million doses of flu vaccine, which is more than the 175 million dose record set during the 2019–20 flu season.

During the past decade, the nation’s overall flu vaccination rate has increased from 40.5% in 2010-11 to 48.4% last year.  The highest percentage, by age group last year, was 69.8% among those 65 and older, compared with 50.6% among those age 50-64, and 38.4% among those age 18-49. 

In Connecticut, 70% of those age 65 plus were vaccinated for the flu last year, according to CDC data, the second highest rate in the nation.