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A summary of presentations from the weekly Summit partner webinars

October 10, 2024 – The latest Summit Summary

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) 2024 Annual News Conference Update – Maria Dalton, CAE, NFID Executive Director and CEO, and Diana Olson, NFID Senior Director, Strategic Communications

Maria Dalton, CAE and Diana Olson gave an update from their 2024 NFID’s annual media conference on the respiratory viral season.

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NFID Survey and News Conference 2024
Although the data for this presentation comes from August and September 2024, October is still part of the beginning of the respiratory viral season and there is a lot of work ahead for those in the field. The season can last for many months and often into the following spring, so there will be momentum building throughout the season, with many partners and through many activities. There is a goal to speak with one strong voice, supporting respiratory disease prevention and treatment. NFID hosted a conference, Preparing for Respiratory Season, on October 29, and a complimentary webinar at 2:00 p.m. ET on the same day.

The News Conference
On September 25, 2024, NFID was live at the National Press Club in Washington, DC with a panel to provide key public health messages about the importance of getting vaccinated against flu, COVID-19, RSV, and pneumococcal disease, for those indicated. The collaboration between NFID and CDC was also highlighted.
A recording of the news conference is available at nfid.org/2024FluNews.

Results of the NFID National Survey of US Adults
The survey was a national survey of US adults 18 years of age and older conducted in August 2024. There were more than 1,000 respondents representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A summary of the survey is available at nfid.org/2024flusurvey.

  • Overall, fewer than 1 in 5 US adults expressed concern about themselves or someone in their family getting a respiratory infection this fall and winter.
    • 16% said they were concerned about RSV.
    • 17% said they were concerned about flu.
    • 17% said they were concerned about pneumococcal disease.
    • 20% said they were concerned about COVID-19.
  • 67% of respondents said an annual flu vaccine is the most effective way to prevent flu-related hospitalizations and deaths.
  • 45% said they do not plan to or are unsure whether they will get vaccinated against flu this season.
    • The primary reason cited for not planning to get vaccinated was concern about side effects.
    • Of those who were diagnosed with flu in the past two years, 49% said they “definitely will” get vaccinated against flu this season. And, of that same diagnosed group, 23% said that they “probably will” get vaccinated against flu this season. These numbers suggest that first-hand experience with influenza can be a motivator for vaccination.
    • 75% of US adults said they trust doctors, nurses, and pharmacists as their primary source for information about vaccines – which is an opportunity for those professionals to address misconceptions and concerns.

News Conference Media Coverage
Outreach for the news conference is ongoing. Initial outreach resulted in top-tier media coverage, including 33 original articles and 416 total stories.

  • The conference was covered by the Associated Press, CBS, USA Today, Fortune, and The Washington Post.
  • Media coverage garnered more than 7 billion impressions by early October.
  • Associated Press News live-streamed the news conference, and CBS broadcast the story across local affiliates nationwide.
  • Most of the media coverage included several key messages developed by NFID to respond to misconceptions or concerns.

Social Media Coverage
There were more than 9 million impressions across more than 1,200 social media posts that resulted in 5,750 engagements using the hashtags #fightflu, #preventRSV, #preventPneumo, #getvaccinated, and #stopthespread.

On-Site Flu Vaccine Clinic
The on-site flu vaccine clinic was held as part of the NFID Leading By Example initiative (nfid.org/lbe).

  • Panelists and partners had the opportunity to get vaccinated immediately following the news conference.
  • One of the goals of Leading By Example is to share photos of leaders getting vaccinated throughout the respiratory viral season to normalize vaccination as behavior that helps people stay healthy.

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Vaccine Coverage Update – Carla Black, PhD, Lead, Influenza and Adult Coverage Assessment Team, Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch, CDC

Carla Black, PhD gave an update on vaccine coverage to date this season.

Influenza, COVID-19, and RSV Vaccination Coverage Update, October 2024
The data below is only for adults because the survey for children only began in early October 2024, so data are not yet available. The data for adults come from the National Immunization Survey – Adult COVID Module, which also asks about flu and RSV. All the data presented here are available live, updated on Wednesdays, at RespVaxView.

Adult Survey Results
The survey of adults who are not pregnant is based on self-report, as opposed to medical records.

  • As background, data, going back to 2010, from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System show a drop in the flu vaccination coverage rate of about 2 percentage points for the 2023-2024 season and a slow decrease each season since the slight bump documented in the season after the pandemic began.
  • It is very early in the season, but vaccination and intent-to-vaccinate is still predictive.

Flu Vaccination Coverage
For flu, comparing data from around the ends of September 2023 and September 2024, the percentages of those who had already been vaccinated were close (13.9% and 12.3%, respectively), But, since it’s early in the season, intent-to-vaccinate may be more useful for predictions.

  • For flu, the percent of people last year who had already been vaccinated or said they definitely will get vaccinated (47.1%) was slightly lower than the percentage for the same group this year (48%).
  • For flu, the group of people who say they will probably get vaccinated is referred to as the “moveable middle,” which is a group to target for messaging. The most common reason given by this group for not having gotten vaccinated yet is that they just haven’t gotten around to it.
  • For flu, the group of people who say they are not likely to get vaccinated are often concerned about side effects, don’t trust the government, or are not worried about flu.

COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage
For COVID-19, percentages of adults who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-October 2023 (6.8%) versus late September 2024 (6.4%) were similar, especially considering the two-week time difference for the data points. Again the intent-to-vaccinate may be more useful for predictions.

  • For COVID-19, it looks like intent-to-vaccinate is a bit lower this season (27%) compared with last season (31.5%).
  • For COVID-19, the 2023-2024 season saw about 23% of adults vaccinated, so of the group of people who said they definitely would get vaccinated at the beginning of last season (31.5%), some did not end up doing it.

RSV Vaccination Coverage
For RSV, data does not start at zero, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime vaccine. At the beginning of August 2024, about 23% of people 60 to 74 years of age at high risk and about 33% of people 75 years of age and older were vaccinated.

  • For RSV, at the end of September 2024, about 34% of people 75 years of age and older were vaccinated; this is not a big increase from August, considering the new routine recommendation (versus the previous shared decision-making approach).
  • For RSV, at the end of September 2024, 30% of people 60 to 74 years of age had been vaccinated, showing some increase with the new recommendation for that group.

Survey Results for Pregnant People
The survey results for people who are pregnant come from the Vaccine Safety Data (VSD) link, a collaboration with 10 integrated healthcare organizations, and pulls from electronic health records. It is the same system that is used for in-season monitoring for quick, almost real-time coverage. Numbers from this system may be lower, because vaccinations that were given outside the VSD may be missed.

  • For flu, the data are for women who were pregnant since August 1, 2024 and vaccinated since July 1, 2024; for COVID-19, the data are for women who were pregnant about 2 weeks after the vaccine was available.
  • For RSV, the data are for women who have reached at least 32 weeks’ gestation since September 1, 2024 and then received vaccination for RSV during this current pregnancy.

Flu Vaccination Coverage in Pregnant People
There was a big drop in flu vaccination in pregnant people between the 2019-2020 season and all of the following seasons to date.

  • For this season, at the end of September, the percentage of pregnant people vaccinated for flu was 18%, which is almost exactly where the percentage was at this time last season. So, while the decrease doesn’t seem to be continuing, percentages have not rebounded, either.

COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage in Pregnant People
COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant people this season is very low at almost 5%, although it is slightly higher than at a similar time last season.

RSV Vaccination Coverage in Pregnant People
At the end of September 2024, about 23% of pregnant people who were eligible were vaccinated for RSV.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

Q: Any shift in disparities data? With your intent-to-vaccinate data, do you see any indication that disparities are going to be about the same as they were
Carla Black (CDC): I didn’t show the coverage by any demographics because it is so early and it’s kind of low across the board. But what we’re seeing so far is very similar to previous seasons: highest among Asian adults and White adults and lower among Black adults, Hispanic adults, and adults of other races.
Q [follow-up]: What about, especially with some of the COVID vaccine data probably spilling over into influenza vaccine data, any difference between rural and urban again?
Carla Black (CDC): I need to go back and look, but I think that it probably looks pretty similar. It’s very early in the season, but I predict it’s going to be the same as usual: that rural coverage is lower.
L.J Tan (Immunize): I hear you that it’s early in the season, but I do think the intent-to-vaccinate data that you’re showing is prognostic of what can be coming. So, I think all of us have to roll up our sleeves.

Q: Is there published data by CDC on RSV-related hospitalizations and deaths, like we are seeing with influenza and hospitalization rates and deaths, particularly in those 65 years of age and older during the previous season?
Carla Black (CDC): I’m not the best person to answer, but I think the answer is yes. There is a CDC respiratory virus data channel that has some immunization and disease data on it. So, there is some RSV data there.
L.J Tan (Immunize): The summary for the call on September 19, 2024, has been posted. That archive will include Dr. Silk’s slides and links to exactly what Carla is talking about.

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Announcements
  • The Office for Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) at the HHS – Susan Farrell is our representative to the Summit – is requesting feedback as it develops its 2026 – 2030 national vaccine plan, which will update the vaccine national strategic plan from 2021 – 2025. The Summit has sent an email and is requesting that everyone participate.
    • There is a Request for Information (RFI) that was published in the Federal Register notice on October 7, 2024. If you want to provide comments to the National Vaccine Plan, please submit them using the online form that is on the Federal Register notice by December 6, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
    • The OIDP is hosting a 90-minute listening session on October 31, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. ET titled “Vaccines, National Strategic Plan, Progress, Challenges, and Future Strategies.”
  • Susan Farrall announced that there is an RFI from Healthy People 2030, which she said is a tribute to the Summit because, among other things in the RFI, they are looking at two items related to immunization: the Tdap measure for pregnant women, and the composite adult measure, which the Summit has worked towards for many years. She added that it is an opportunity for federal comment, but also an opportunity to thank people at the Summit for their work, especially the Summit’s Quality working group, led by Dr. Angela Shen, that worked towards getting the maternal measure, as well as the adult composite measure, tested and piloted and, eventually, into the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS).

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