Seasonal influenza vaccine coverage among teenagers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Explore and evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on the influenza vaccination rate among teenagers in USA. Methods: The 2020 and 2021 National Immunization Survey on Teenagers were used to examine the coverage of the seasonal influenza vaccine. A total of 19,184 teenagers less than 18 years of age were included and states were categorized into three groups (blue, red, and swing states). A multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine independent risk factors for the vaccine coverage adjusting for age, census region, poverty level, education level of the mother, marital status of the mother, race, and ethnicity. Results: The overall seasonal influenza coverage was 60.6% in 2021, up 3.2% from 57.4% in 2020. There was an identified difference in coverage related to race/ethnicity. The flu shot coverage among Hispanic teenagers deceased from 59.0% to 56.1% during Covid-19 and increased for non-Hispanic-white, black, and multiple races (57.3%, 51.2%, 59.6% in 2020 vs 62.5%, 54.6%, 63.2% in 2021). The swing states had the highest increases at 5.24% from 55.7% to 61.0%, while red states had the lowest increase from 52.9% to 54.9%, and blue states increased from 63.0% to 66.5%. Compared with teenagers from red states, the teenagers from swing and blue states are more likely to get the flu shot (OR=1.10 with 1.01-1.19, and OR=1.27, 95% CI 1.17-1.38). Conclusion: The Hispanic teenage population had a decrease in flu shot coverage and teenagers living in the blue states were more like to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine.