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Mention the arrival of fall and people's senses come alive with scenes of pumpkins and scarecrows, the scent of wood burning in fireplaces, and the taste of pumpkin spice in drinks and food. Now, health professionals want us to think about getting a trio of vaccines when temperatures start to drop, and days grow shorter.
"We have a new flu vaccine, a reformulated COVID vaccine that is more targeted to the current variants, and we have a highly anticipated RSV vaccine. All three of these are critical to public health initiatives designed to reduce the risk of illness and hospitalization. It is a really great opportunity to highlight the role of vaccines in public health," said Russell Findlay, PharmD, MS, director of pharmacy purchasing and support services at University of Utah Health.
Findlay will coordinate U of U Health's campaign to promote and distribute the vaccines once they are available and in stock.
It is not always easy to convince Utahns to roll up their sleeves for these preventative pokes in their arms. But Findlay and his colleague, Kavish Choudhary, PharmD, MS, chief pharmacy officer at U of U Health, have plenty of experience presenting the case for vaccines.
"There's always been vaccine hesitancy. I think COVID just shined more of a light on it. We've had flu mandates here at the university for as long as I can remember, and you are always going to get some pushback with those. I think what tipped people over the edge with COVID was that it was a new vaccine and unknown," Choudhary said.
With the medical community armed with fresh data and positive results, Choudhary believes it might be easier to get people vaccinated against all three respiratory illnesses. "I think as the years go by with COVID and the vaccines continue to work, people will see that it's normal and say, 'ok, let's go ahead and get it.'"
Findlay and Choudhary agree the misinformation about risks versus benefits when it comes to vaccines makes their work more challenging, especially post-pandemic. "COVID, unfortunately, exaggerated and exacerbated that challenge," Findlay said.
Fear and reluctance are two emotions Findlay said he and Choudhary need to consider when promoting any vaccination program.
"It's important in any campaign to consider how to overcome people's vaccine hesitancy and promote better understanding of the risks associated with vaccines. It is one of the newer elements we need to reckon with any time we advertise the availability and the benefits of vaccines within the community," Findlay said.
This past winter was a miserable and deadly one for many Americans when it came to respiratory illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates the flu led to as many as 58,000 deaths while COVID claimed 50,000 lives between December 2022 and March 2023.
RSV kills up to 10,000, mostly older adults, each year and 2023 will be the first year vaccines are available to combat these infections of the lower respiratory tract. Perhaps it has never been so important for people to understand the value of receiving these new and improved vaccines.
"The new COVID vaccine is a more targeted therapy. As the COVID virus mutates and variants emerge the risk factors to people's health change, and now we have a reformulated vaccine to address this risk. Additionally, RSV is a known challenge to health systems and hospitals," Findlay said.
Choudhary said he falls back on the wisdom of Ben Franklin when it comes to encouraging vaccination. "I think it goes back to the old Ben Franklin saying, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' You may get COVID, but the vaccine will make the recovery a lot quicker. You may get the flu but having the vaccine will make the recovery a lot better."
Since the original COVID vaccine became available, Findlay and Choudhary have been involved in drawing up and administering thousands of vaccines to U of U healthcare workers and their patients.
"Initially, as the vaccine became available, there were lines around the building to get the COVID vaccine," said Choudhary. He recalled the pushback coming when mandates surfaced and patients who did not experience COVID up close were required to be vaccinated.
"Looking at COVID mostly through the eyes of others, maybe for them it wasn't real. Maybe they didn't know anyone who got sick or anyone who passed away. For me and Russell (Findlay), you walked the halls of the hospital, and the ICUs were blocked off, folks were dying at a record pace. For us it was very real. As people realize this is not something that was made up, I think folks will continue to be more open to getting the vaccine," Choudhary said.
If the vaccination season is a confusing one for many people, it is not surprising. There is a lot of information, advice, and data for people to consume before making these decisions. However, every winter people lose loved ones to these viruses. The only difference this year is there are new weapons to deploy in the fight to save lives and reduce suffering.
"There is a unique opportunity to prevent illness with the advent of these new vaccines and newer generation products, probably much more so than in the last several years with the RSV, the new flu, and the new COVID vaccines all coming out together," Findlay said.
