Confidence, complacency and convenience: Key elements of influenza vaccination strategies in times of COVID-19

This digital event discussed how important it is to promote confidence in influenza vaccines and avoid complacency towards vaccination due to lower influenza rates in the past year. Harnessing the convenience of access to pharmacies will be paramount to achieve these goals. Due to the widespread adoption of disease prevention measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19, the prevalence of the seasonal influenza lowered drastically around the world. However, as more people become vaccinated against COVID-19 and measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and home-based working or schooling are eased, the flu could return with high incidence rates and people could be more susceptible to the influenza virus due to lack of recent exposure. Developing flu vaccines this year has also been more challenging than usual due to less data available. This uncertainty around the return of influenza makes vaccination all the more critical, and it essential to communicate this to the population.