Demographic and Social Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination Initiation Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years - United States, December 14, 2020-April 10, 2021

Abstract

Compared with other age groups, older adults (defined here as persons aged ≥65 years) are at higher risk for COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality and have therefore been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination (1,2). Ensuring access to vaccines for older adults has been a focus of federal, state, and local response efforts, and CDC has been monitoring vaccination coverage to identify and address disparities among subpopulations of older adults (2). Vaccine administration data submitted to CDC were analyzed to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination initiation among adults aged ≥65 years by demographic characteristics and overall. Characteristics of counties with low vaccination initiation rates were quantified using indicators of social vulnerability data from the 2019 American Community Survey.* During December 14, 2020-April 10, 2021, nationwide, a total of 42,736,710 (79.1%) older adults had initiated vaccination. The initiation rate was higher among men than among women and varied by state. On average, counties with low vaccination initiation rates (<50% of older adults having received at least 1 vaccine dose), compared with those with high rates (≥75%), had higher percentages of older adults without a computer, living in poverty, without Internet access, and living alone. CDC, state, and local jurisdictions in partnerships with communities should continue to identify and implement strategies to improve access to COVID-19 vaccination for older adults, such as assistance with scheduling vaccination appointments and transportation to vaccination sites, or vaccination at home if needed for persons who are homebound.^† Monitoring demographic and social factors affecting COVID-19 vaccine access for older adults and prioritizing efforts to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine are needed to ensure high coverage among this group.

FIGURE 1

State COVID-19 vaccination initiation rate of adults aged ≥65 years, by age group and sex — United States, December 14, 2020–April 10, 2021 Abbreviation: DC = District of Columbia.

FIGURE 2

County residents aged ≥65 years with selected indicators of social vulnerability, by vaccination initiation percentage — United States, December 14, 2020–April 10, 2021 Abbreviation: IQR = interquartile range. * This figure presents boxplots with the distributions of each indicator of social vulnerability for each of the categories of vaccination initiation among the population aged ≥65 years. The horizontal line in each box indicates the median; the top and bottom edges of each box indicate the 75th and 25th percentile values, respectively; the top and bottom of each vertical line show the maximum (75th percentile value + 1.5 x IQR) and minimum (25th percentile value - 1.5 x IQR); the dots represent outliers for each distribution.