Iowans’ flu vaccination rate sluggish, trailing previous years early in flu season

DES MOINES — The share of Iowans getting their flu shots this season has dipped lower than any point in at least the past seven years, according to state data at this point in the flu season.

Just 28.3 percent of Iowans had received the flu vaccine as of Dec. 20, according to the most recent state figures.

While there are multiple months remaining in the 2024-2025 flu season and the figure could change, that 28.3 percent would be the state’s lowest flu vaccination rate since at least 2018. It’s down from the 33.7 percent of Iowans who received the flu vaccine during the 2023-2024 flu season and the 40.6 percent who got the flu shot in 2019-2020.

Since multiple months remain in the 2024-2025 flu season, an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said the current data does not provide a full picture of this flu season’s immunization rates compared to previous years.

Iowa HHS spokeswoman Sarah Ekstrand in an emailed statement to The Gazette said the department “continues to urge the efficacy and importance of flu and other vaccines for respiratory viruses,” and that “Iowans with questions about which vaccines are right for them should contact their health care provider.”

The flu season, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, usually occurs during the fall and winter, with peak activity between December and February.

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Dr. Eric Haugen, a pediatrician with UnityPoint Health in Des Moines, said the low vaccination rates are a concern.

“It’s always a concern when vaccination rates are that low because of the inability of allowing the herd immunity to occur,” Haugen said. “So if influenza rates are low, that means that people who have influenza are going to be able to spread it to others easier because they’re going to be in contact with more people who are likely to have not been vaccinated and then spread it from there.

“So having low (vaccination) rates like that is always a concern when it comes to being able to keep influenza seasons manageable and without serious morbidity and mortality.”

A spokesperson for MercyOne said that while flu vaccination rates for the current season are lower than previous years, it remains helpful for any Iowans who are not yet vaccinated to do so.

“It’s never too late to get vaccinated,” the MercyOne spokesperson said in an email to The Gazette. “Vaccination remains the single-most effective tool to prevent the most serious flu-associated illness, complications, and hospitalizations. Getting the flu shot also protects infants, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems who are most at risk from flu.”

Haugen said one of the most common reasons he hears from people who decline to get the flu vaccine is that the vaccine itself gives them the flu. Haugen said that is not accurate. He said while aches and fatigue are common side effects of the flu vaccine, those symptoms are not necessarily an indication of influenza.

“It is a very safe vaccine,” Haugen said. “And it is one that helps immensely with our ability to stay healthy and (for people) to be healthy themselves, and also to help protect those who are around them, especially those who are the really young, the under a year of age, and the … 65 and older, who are more prone to having bad outcomes from having influenza, which would include chronic lung problems, possibly, and even some mortality.”

Iowa HHS, on its website, says the flu vaccine is the best way to protect against the flu. The vaccine can protect against influenza and “its potentially serious complications.”

“Vaccination of high-risk persons is especially important to decrease their risk of severe flu illness,” Iowa HHS says. “Getting vaccinated not only protects you, but also prevents you from spreading the disease to your family, friends, and coworkers.”

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