Will COVID vaccine fatigue lead to low flu shot uptake? Why some experts are concerned

Health experts are raising concern about how vaccine fatigue may lead fewer Canadians to get their flu shot amid predictions this year’s flu season could be the worst in years.

With Canada’s flu season around the corner, pharmacists and health experts are raising concerns about how vaccine fatigue may lead fewer Canadians to get their flu shot, especially amid predictions this year’s flu season could be the worst in years.

Only half of Canadians say they plan to get their flu shot this year, according to a new survey by Abacus Data for the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

That’s a six-point decrease from the 56 per cent of Canadians surveyed about their flu shot intentions last year.

“We’re actually quite concerned about those findings,” said Danielle Paes, chief pharmacist officer with the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Canada has only recently emerged from an unusual summer wave of illness due COVID-19, which demonstrated how easily transmission of respiratory illnesses can happen now that public health measures like masking and physical distancing have been largely scrapped, she said.

This, coupled with concerns about overcrowded hospitals and health care staffing shortages across Canada, means many health practitioners are hoping as many people as possible will protect themselves against influenza with a flu shot this year, she added.

“In an already-strained health care system, anything that we can do to alleviate some of that pressure is going to go a long way.”

Canada’s flu season has been far less severe than usual over the last two years, which health experts attribute to public health measures that were mandatory in most of Canada during the height of the pandemic.