Prevalence of influenza vaccine before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a city in Southern Brazil: population-based studies

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of influenza vaccination before and during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its associated factors in the adult and elderly population in a city in southern Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study conducted with data from two population-based surveys carried out in Criciúma-SC. The sampling process was carried out in two stages: random selection of census tracts and households. We analyzed the prevalence of influenza vaccination coverage before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as sociodemographic, health, and behavioral variables. A total of 820 individuals before the pandemic and 863 during the pandemic were studied. Most of them were female, white skin color and had no health insurance. The prevalence of influenza vaccination reduced by 18% during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, higher percentage of vaccination was observed in the elderly people. During the pandemic, besides elderly individuals, those with multimorbidity and who had health insurance also showed a higher prevalence. It was observed a reduction in the influenza vaccination coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reinforce the need to develop public health strategies to increase the influenza vaccination coverage.