CityMD Urgent Care conducted a survey of 2,080 United States adults ages 18 and older to determine Americans’ plans for getting a flu shot during the 2016-2017 influenza season (which peaks between late November and March). The survey was conducted via Harris Poll Quick Query September 13-15, 2016.
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According to the survey, more than half of Millennials (52%) are not planning to get a flu shot this year. Why not? Here’s what they said:
- 49% said they don’t trust that it will keep them from getting the flu.
- 29% said they think it could make them sick.
- 25% don’t want to spend the money.
- 23% don’t think they need it because they’ve never gotten the flu.
- 4% don’t know where to get the flu shot.
Note that your Gen Xers are not far behind in their unwillingness to get the vaccine. Here’s the breakdown, by age, of those not planning to get a flu shot this year:
- 42% of all American adults
- 52% of 18 to 34 year olds
- 49% of 35 to 44 year olds
- 48% of 45 to 54 year olds
- 38% of 55 to 64 year olds
Here are some additional findings from the survey that tend to indicate additional education may be crucial to your quest for a well-vaccinated workforce this flu season:
- When asked why they don’t plan to get a flu shot this year, the top reason cited by respondents was that they don’t trust that the flu shot would keep them from getting the flu (52%). Northeasterners (61%) were more likely to make this claim than Southerners (48%).
- Those ages 55+ (30%) are two times more likely than those ages 45 to 54 (15%) to say they are not getting the flu shot this year because they’ve never gotten the flu.
- Only 5% of those aged 65+ are not planning to get the flu because they don’t want to spend the money. Two percent of this group cited not knowing where to get the flu shot as a reason for not getting the flu shot.