UNIVERSAL INFLUENZA VACCINATION

To advocate for universal annual administration of influenza vaccinations to the United States population; further,

To advocate that annual influenza vaccination be a national public health priority; further,

To support the development of safe, effective, and affordable universal influenza vaccination, with the goal of long-term immunity.

Rationale

Influenza places a significant health burden on the United States, with estimates of 9–35 million illnesses, 4–16 million outpatient medical visits, and 139,000–708,000 hospitalizations each season. The influenza virus evolves and changes each year, with changes in its genome that require adjustments to vaccine viruses each season. Furthermore, the timing of the onset, peak, and end of each flu season varies annually, typically falling in the fall and winter. Evidence from several observational studies demonstrate that higher influenza vaccination is associated with a lower risk of influenza outbreaks, but Healthy People 2030 estimates that only 49.2% of persons 6 months or older were vaccinated for the 2017-18 season. Influenza vaccination in low-risk individuals has also shown to be effective and can prevent many illnesses, deaths, and losses in productivity.

The Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America: 2018 Update on Diagnosis, Treatment, Chemoprophylaxis, and Institutional Outbreak Management of Seasonal Influenza emphasize that annual vaccination is the best method for preventing or mitigating the impact of influenza, and the 2030 Infectious Disease Goals for Healthy People 2030 have a goal of minimum vaccination rates of 70%. In 2019, an Executive Order created the National Influenza Vaccine Task Force, which identified that collaborative efforts across the federal government, academia, the private sector, and international stakeholders over the past decade have advanced influenza vaccine technologies. The Task Force also noted that influenza is a public health and national security challenge, with significant gaps remaining in vaccine effectiveness, pace of vaccine production, sustainable manufacturing, and vaccine access and coverage across all populations.