Ecologic Study of Influenza Vaccination Uptake and COVID-19 Death Rate in New York City

Abstract

The aim of this ecological study was to assess the area-level relationship between cumulative death rate for COVID-19 and historic influenza vaccination uptake in the New York City population. Predictors of COVID-19 death included self-reported flu vaccination in 2018, as well as four CDC-defined risk factors of severe COVID-19 infection available at the ecological level, which were diabetes, asthma, BMI 30-100 (mg/k2) and hypertension, in addition to race and age (65+ years). Zip codes with a higher prevalence of influenza vaccination had lower rates of COVID-19 mortality, inciting the need to further explore the relationship between influenza vaccination uptake and COVID-19 mortality at the individual level.Funding Statement: This research received no external funding.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: Not applicable.