The flu vaccination campaign has reached its final stages, but the data show that this vaccine is struggling to reach high percentages. At the end of December, despite the many registrations in the last two months of the year, 47.9% of the over 65s were vaccinated, a figure similar to that of 2021. «The minimum goal was to reach 40% of those vaccinated among the over 65s while the maximum was 60%», specifies the director of the Prevention department of Ulss 1 Dolomiti, Sandro Cinquetti, «we are placed in the middle. On the other hand, in the last 2-3 years, before Covid, the perception of the risk deriving from the flu had disappeared. But then the pandemic has highlighted that respiratory diseases are problematic especially for frail and elderly people. Now the population is still focused on vaccinations against the Coronavirus. I believe that the winter of 2022-2023 should be considered transitional. If there is an epidemic slowdown of the Covid, as is highlighted now, I believe that next winter we will be able to have better data for the anti-flu campaign, reaching 60% ». The prophylaxis will officially end on February 28, so there is still some time to undergo the vaccine even if to count on an antibody response those who intend to have it, must undergo it within one or two weeks.
Other vaccinations in adults
Better data instead comes on vaccinations, again on adults, against Herpes Zoster which this year reached 55.6% of adhesion by those who turned 65 in 2022. The campaign against Pneumococcus also did well, which saw more than half of those born in 1957 join. “On both of these vaccines we exceeded the regional objectives which set the limit to be reached respectively at 50% and 55%,” says Cinquetti.
Vaccines for children
The coverage results for pediatric vaccines, i.e. for children who turned two in 2022, are very good. There is talk of an adhesion that exceeds 95% for the hexavalent vaccine (diphtheria, tetate, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B and haemophilus B), while it stands at 94% for vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. “The first six vaccines inoculate inactivated viruses, while in the others the virus is attenuated”, concludes the director of Prevention, underlining how “in Belluno families there is a strong sense of the conviction that these are services to protect the community as well as their children ».