Investigation on influenza vaccination policy and vaccination situation during the influenza seasons of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 in China

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the policies and coverage of influenza vaccine during the influenza epidemic seasons of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 in China. Methods: The national influenza vaccination policy and vaccination rate were investigated in counties and districts and described in the two epidemic seasons. Results: In the epidemic seasons of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, the vaccination coverage of influenza in China was 3.16% and 2.47%, respectively. The free vaccination policy had the highest vaccination coverage (51.75% and 38.32%), followed by the medical insurance reimbursement policy (9.74% and 7.36%). During the epidemic season of 2021-2022, the number of counties and districts implementing the free vaccination policy in China decreased 61 compared with the previous year, but the number of people covered increased by 51.29%. However, the vaccination coverage of the vast population decreased significantly, with the medical staff (75.69% and 40.15% for two epidemic seasons), preschool children (58.86% and 26.15%), and the elderly (45.71% and 32.94%). During the epidemic season of 2021-2022, the number of counties and districts implementing the medical insurance reimbursement policy increased by 6 compared with the previous year, and the number of people covered increased by 11.12%, but the vaccination coverage decreased. Conclusion: The influenza vaccination rate in China is low, and the implementation of cost preferential policy can greatly improve the influenza vaccination rate.