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. 2020 Nov 30;8(4):711.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines8040711.

Attitudes and Beliefs on Influenza Vaccination during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Representative Italian Survey

Alexander Domnich  1 , Maura Cambiaggi  1 , Alessandro Vasco  1 , Luca Maraniello  2 , Filippo Ansaldi  3   4   5 , Vincenzo Baldo  6 , Paolo Bonanni  7 , Giovanna Elisa Calabrò  8   9 , Claudio Costantino  10 , Chiara de Waure  11 , Giovanni Gabutti  12 , Vincenzo Restivo  10 , Caterina Rizzo  13 , Francesco Vitale  10 , Riccardo Grassi  2
Affiliations

Attitudes and Beliefs on Influenza Vaccination during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Representative Italian Survey

Alexander Domnich et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

The last 2019/20 northern hemisphere influenza season overlapped with the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Italy was the first western country where severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread to a significant extent. In this representative cross-sectional survey, we aimed to describe some opinions and attitudes of the Italian general population towards both influenza vaccination and the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify potential modifiers of the decision-making process regarding the uptake of the 2020/21 influenza vaccine. A total of 2543 responses were analyzed. Although most (74.8%) participants valued influenza vaccination positively and declared that it should be mandatory, some misconceptions around influenza persist. The general practitioner was the main source of trusted information on influenza vaccines, while social networks were judged to be the least reliable. Younger and less affluent individuals, subjects not vaccinated in the previous season, and those living in smaller communities showed lower odds of receiving the 2020/21 season influenza vaccination. However, the COVID-19 pandemic may have positively influenced the propensity of being vaccinated against 2020/21 seasonal influenza. In order to increase influenza vaccination coverage rates multidisciplinary targeted interventions are needed. The role of general practitioners remains crucial in increasing influenza vaccine awareness and acceptance by effective counselling.

Keywords: COVID-19; Italy; attitudes; influenza; survey; vaccine; vaccine hesitancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

A.D., M.C. and A.V. are permanent employees of Seqirus, a pharmaceutical company who manufacture and commercialize influenza vaccines. R.G. and L.M. are permanent employees of SWG S.p.A., a company that perform market surveys, opinion and institutional polls, sector studies and monitoring centers. F.A., V.B., P.B., G.E.C., C.C., C.d.W., G.G., V.R., C.R. and F.V. were all remunerated by Seqirus S.R.L. for their participation in the “Flu-COVID” advisory board where the preliminary results of this project were presented and discussed. All authors did not receive any form of payment from any source for writing this scientific report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes on influenza vaccination (N = 2543).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Perceived credibility of different sources of information on influenza vaccines (where 1 is not credible at all and 10 the most credible) (N = 2543).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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