Survey Finds That College Students Need More Incentive to Get Vaccinated

Survey Finds That College Students Need More Incentive to Get Vaccinated via Pixabay The survey revealed many new insights, such as new insights into increasing participation in vaccination programs on campuses, such as the fact that while a majority of college students in the U.S. (70%) believe it is important to get an annual flu vaccine, less than half (46%) actually get vaccinated. With these results, the NFID wanted to know how to best incentivize students into getting their vaccines. They found that with access to the vaccine at low or no cost (61%) and enticements, such as free food or gift cards (61%), students say it would increase their likelihood of getting vaccinated. The reason that it is so important that college students receive vaccinations is that they are at particularly high risk of getting, and spreading, the flu. This is because the college lifestyle leaves them open to frequent exposure to high-touch areas like common living spaces and classrooms, as well as their participation in social activities. “As a healthcare community, we’ve long known that college students are profoundly under-vaccinated. This new research indicates that a combination of education and incentives may be an effective way to reach college students who have been apprehensive about vaccination in the past,” said NFID Board member, Lisa S. Ipp, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, Associate Director of Adolescent Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital. “We now plan to work with academic, health, advocacy and student leaders to share these insights and uncover additional best practices to drive improvements in flu immunization efforts on campuses.”