Most Americans haven’t been vaccinated this year, and health experts are worried about outbreaks of COVID, flu and RSV.
“We’re seeing lower numbers of people going out to get their vaccines for COVID, for influenza. And over the last couple of years, we’ve seen that,” said Dr. Jason Bowling, infectious disease specialist with University Health System and UT Health San Antonio.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that only about 37% of adults have received a flu shot, while just 19% have received the updated COVID vaccine.
It’s even lower for children at 33% for flu and just under 9% for COVID.
These numbers climbed around 2% higher than last year.
Bowling said part of that is likely due to vaccine fatigue from the pandemic, but not all of it.
“I think we’re getting a little too comfortable with COVID and flu, but we’re still seeing people get very ill with both of these and RSV,” Bowling said.
RSV cases have already spiked this year, hitting the vulnerable hardest.
“We now have vaccines available for RSV for people that are at highest risk. So people that are 75 and older, adults (who) are 60 and older and have medical conditions, and then, also, it’s protection for infants,” Bowling said.
He said the rates are low for that vaccine, too, and have been since it was released last year. Part of that, he believes, is awareness.
“It is a new vaccine. So we want people to be aware that this vaccine is available,” he said.
As for the flu, cases are picking up by the week.
“Ninety-two cases just last week of flu, and that’s up from 57 cases the week before. So it was a 65% increase just week to week. And that’s just confirmed PCR tests. So there are way more out there,” Bowling said.
While COVID numbers are currently low, Bowling said they’re expected to spike again soon.
“At the end of this year or early next year. And there’s data now that shows that people (who) are vaccinated have lower risk of long COVID, have less severe symptoms,” he said.
Misinformation and doubts over the COVID vaccine have hampered those numbers, bringing experts to emphasize that it’s trustworthy and helps cut down on long COVID diagnoses.
“COVID vaccines have been studied more than any other vaccine in history. We really have a lot of safety records, and they’re continuing to monitor for side effects, too. So it’s not as though they did the monitoring and they stopped,” Bowling said.
Healthcare workers also are trying to remind people that the perspective is wider than just each individual.
“For some people, it might be a mild illness that lasts for a few days, but for other people, they could end up in the ER, or worst, case admitted to the hospital,” Bowling said.
Even in mid-December, it’s not too late to get your vaccines.
“This is a perfect time to get it because a lot of people are going to be traveling in the next couple of weeks. So if you get that vaccine now, it gives your body a couple of weeks to generate antibodies, provide that protection, and keep you having fun with your family and friends, (but) maybe not in urgent care or the hospital,” Bowling said.
San Antonio school districts even see this trend of lower vaccine rates by way of the exemption form parents fill out and get approved by the state of Texas if they want to waive their child’s vaccinations.
Two of the largest local school districts replied to KSAT’s request about the subject on Monday, confirming that trend.
North East ISD:
“We have seen a little steady increase in the number of incoming kinder with conscientious exemptions. In 2017-2018, there were 37 students with exemptions to all vaccines. There were 78 kinder students last year and 90 this year,” the district said.
The district said they see exemptions less in other grades because parents have generally already made those decisions about vaccines by then.
The percentages break down to:
- 2017-2018: 0.9% of kids had vaccine exemptions.
- 2023-2024: 2.4% of kids had exemptions.
- 2024-2025: 2.7% of kids had exemptions.
That means vaccine exemptions are up 0.3% from last year.
San Antonio ISD:
The district said they are “seeing numbers of parents opting out of vaccinations trending slightly upward.”
Vaccine exemptions by school year:
- 2024-2025: 368 students.
- 2023-2024: 301 students.
- 2022-2023: 297 students.
- 2021-2022: 219 students.
- 2020-2021: 164 students.
- 2019-2020: 197 students.