Business View Magazine | September 2020

5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 O p e n i n g L i n e s S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 LOWADULT IMMUNIZATION RATES DECLINE FURTHER DUE TO PANDEMIC A recent survey, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of GSK, finds that many adults ages 50-79 are unfamiliar with the vaccines recommended for them. The online survey of more than 3,000 US adults ages 50-79 (older adults) and more than 300 US primary care physicians indicates that adults are unlikely to receive many of the vaccines recommended for them: • Approximately 1 in 4 older adults have never heard of or are unfamiliar with the adult vaccines for shingles (27%), tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) (28%), and pneumonia (30%). • Many older adults say they are not likely to receive the influenza (i.e., flu) (28%), shingles (38%), Tdap (44%), or pneumococcal (i.e., pneumonia) (54%) vaccines. • More than half of older adults have never heard of or are unfamiliar with the vaccines for hepatitis B (55%) and hepatitis A (56%). “Low adult immunization rates have declined even further due to the pandemic, putting the country at risk for a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Manufacturers, healthcare providers and the entire public health community must redouble efforts to ensure older adults are fully immunized,” said Judy Stewart, Senior Vice President, Head of US Vaccines at GSK. “Increasing public health efforts to administer existing vaccines is as important as the efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.” The pandemic has made older adults more