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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1431963

Simultaneous vaccination against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 among target population in Italy

Provisionally accepted
  • Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Annual influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations are effective tools for reducing the diseases burden. The goals of the present cross-sectional survey were to investigate attitudes and behaviors toward the simultaneous vaccination against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 and the factors associated. Methods: Questionnaires were self-administered or researcher-administered between October 2023 and February 2024 in an immunization center in the Southern part of Italy. Results: All 151 subjects eligible for influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations who attended the center agreed to participate. A total of 59.6% respondents received concurrent seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations. Those who perceived that the simultaneous vaccination was safer and those who have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 fewer times were more likely to have simultaneously received both vaccinations. Regarding the reasons reported, half of the sample stated that the simultaneous vaccination was safe and that they were adequately informed. This was more likely indicated by the respondents who had received at least four doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. Among those who had not received the simultaneous vaccination, 70.7% and 29.3% had received only seasonal influenza and COVID-19. Conclusions: Educational health communication campaigns are necessary to improve the compliance with the simultaneous administration in order to increase the unsatisfactory vaccination coverages.

    Keywords: COVID-191, influenza2, Italy3, Survey, Simultaneous vaccination

    Received: 13 May 2024; Accepted: 18 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sansone, Miraglia del Giudice, Della Polla and Angelillo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Italo F. Angelillo, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.