While vaccines for COVID-19 have certainly enjoyed the spotlight in recent years, rates of uptake for other shots have sharply declined.
That's the finding of a new analysis funded by GSK in collaboration with the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA).
All told, about 100 million fewer doses than anticipated of some adult vaccines, other than those targeting COVID-19, were administered between 2021 and 2022, the team found. To reach this number, the group weighed vaccine use in the last two years versus trends in global vaccine adoption from 2013 to 2020.
In fact, just 16.2 doses of some vaccines were doled out globally per 100 adults in 2022. Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccines saw overwhelming success with 132 doses delivered for every 100 adults in the same year, according to the report.
“While significant strides in vaccine development have delivered vaccines to help prolong the health span of adults, data shows that we are falling short on protecting adults around the world from vaccine-preventable diseases,” GSK’s vice president of global vaccines medical affairs, Piyali Mukherjee, said in a company press release (PDF).
GSK, which makes several adult vaccines that target diseases such as shingles, hepatitis A and B and recently respiratory syncytial virus is “committed” to its work with GCOA, IQVIA and other advocates and organizations to ensure greater access to vaccination programs, Mukherjee said.
To bring up these dwindling rates, GSK and the organizations are emphasizing the use of adult immunizations as a standard of care. National immunization programs that include adult vaccine recommendations could help, as could simplified vaccine schedules.