Clinicians are missing opportunities to vaccinate Medicare patients against influenza, despite widespread availability of vaccines and no copayment for patients. In addition, disparities persist in vaccination uptake based on factors including the presence of high-risk illness as well as the beneficiary’s race and ethnicity. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Medicare beneficiaries, including seniors and adults with high-risk conditions, are among the populations who are most susceptible to severe influenza infections and complications. Despite the accessibility of the influenza vaccine, uptake among Medicare beneficiaries was only 50.5 percent during the 2018-2019 flu season.
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