Quantifying the prevalence and determinants of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine hesitancy in US adults aged 60 or older

Objective

Federal regulators recently authorised two vaccines designed to prevent infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for adults aged 60 or older. While some efforts have been made to study vaccine uptake thus far, few have studied this group's intentions to vaccinate, as well as potential barriers to vaccination. This omission is noteworthy as adults aged 60 or older may be at an increased risk of experiencing severe complications from RSV infection.

Study design & Methods

We fielded a nationally representative survey of 1200 US adults (n = 362 aged 60+). Respondents aged 60 or older were asked a series of questions about their willingness to receive an RSV vaccine, vaccine safety, and efficacy attitudes, and their knowledge about vaccination eligibility.

Results

We find that a majority of seniors (53%) intend to refuse an RSV vaccine. As of late fall 2023, just 14% of those eligible had already received an RSV vaccine. Multivariate regression models suggest that belief in the safety and efficacy of the RSV vaccine, as well as previous flu and COVID-19 vaccine uptake, are associated with increased RSV vaccination intentions.

Conclusions

We document high levels of RSV vaccine hesitancy among adults aged 60 or older and show that negative vaccine attitudes and non-vaccination behaviors motivate RSV vaccine refusal. Our work thereby raises the possibility that efforts to communicate the safety and efficacy of RSV vaccination may have beneficial effects on RSV vaccine uptake.