What is stopping kids getting a flu vaccination?

A new study has shed a light on why some parents are not intending to vaccinate their children against influenza this flu season.
 
As part of the National Vaccination Insights project, the study surveyed 2000 Australian parents, asking about the barriers to uptake of flu vaccine among children under five years old.
 
Of those surveyed, 15.0% did not intend to vaccinate their child against influenza in time for the influenza season and 74.3% were intending to, while the 10.8% of parents who were unsure were not included in the analysis.
 
It found a mix of access and acceptance barriers  associated with parents who do not intend to vaccinate their child against influenza.
 
Of this cohort, 54.7% said they do not prioritise their child’s influenza vaccination appointment over other things, and 54.3% said they would not feel guilty if their unvaccinated child got the flu.
 
Additionally, 43.8% do not believe flu vaccines protect others in the community, 41.1% do not believe the vaccine is safe for their child, and 39.7% do not believe the vaccine is safe in preventing the flu.
 
Almost 23% said associated costs are a barrier to vaccinating their child against influenza.
 
It also found 15.9% of parents living in metropolitan-regional areas reported that they do not prioritise influenza vaccination over other things, compared with 9.8% of parents living in rural-remote areas.
 
Dr Kasia Bolsewicz, a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), said there are several reasons for these results.
 
‘This can be a result of either parents choosing not to prioritise, or parents being unable to prioritise due to practical challenges,’ she said.
 
Dr Bolsewicz said these challenges included ‘difficulty booking flu vaccination appointments, managing competing priorities, organising transportation to the clinic and taking time off work.’
 
It comes as flu diagnoses continue to spike following a COVID-19-induced low.
 
In 2024, a record-breaking 365,595 cases of flu were reported in Australia, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak of 313,453 cases in 2019.
 
Of all cases recorded last year, 27.8% were in children younger than nine years old.
 
At the same time, flu vaccination rates in children aged under five dropped from 30.3% in 2023 to 25.8% in 2024.
 
NCIRS Social Science Research Fellow Dr Maryke Steffens said this decline is ‘especially concerning’ as younger children are at higher risk of hospitalisation due to flu.
 
To arrest the decline, Dr Steffens said childhood flu vaccination must be made more accessible for parents with limited time and resources.
 
‘Perennial strategies are required to move this needle,’ she said.
 
‘Parents also need up-to-date information about the importance of annual flu vaccinations and the risk of severe flu illness, even in healthy children, and flu vaccine safety and effectiveness data need to be shared more widely.
 
‘Healthcare workers also require support to discuss and recommend flu vaccination opportunistically, not just during scheduled vaccination appointments.’
 
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