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Philadelphians aren’t rolling up their sleeve to get a flu shot

The flu vaccine this year is well matched to the virus that's circulating but uptake remains low.

Acme Pharmacists Dawn Cohen, gives Roberta Leiggi, 81, of Levittown, Pa., her COVID-19 booster shot and her flu shot at the Bristol Township Senior Center in 2021.
Acme Pharmacists Dawn Cohen, gives Roberta Leiggi, 81, of Levittown, Pa., her COVID-19 booster shot and her flu shot at the Bristol Township Senior Center in 2021.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer

Only one in five Philadelphians has received a flu vaccine so far this season, according to preliminary estimates from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

The flu has spiked this year after two years in which cases were reduced by COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Influenza cases continued to rise in the city in late November, far outpacing the peaks of the last two winters. The number of emergency department visits for flulike illness are also much higher.

» READ MORE: Here are the Philadelphia health commissioner’s tips for a safer holiday gathering amid the ‘tripledemic’

There has been more flu activity in Pennsylvania this fall than in the last eight seasons, according to the state’s Department of Health. As of Dec 3, about 75,000 people across Pennsylvania have been diagnosed with a laboratory-confirmed influenza case and eight died so far this season.

Vaccines can curb influenza and prevent serious illness and death. Infectious-disease specialists say that this year’s vaccine is well-matched to the flu circulating in the community, but fewer people have gotten the shot compared with previous years.

Overall, just 21% of Philadelphians received the flu shot between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30. Adults aged 19 to 64 years had the lowest vaccination rate — only 17% have been vaccinated. People age 65 and over are considered at higher risk for serious illness, but only a third got the shot.

Still, health-care providers are not required to report flu vaccination data, as they must for COVID-19, which has to be reported 24 to 72 hours after a dose is administered, a spokesperson for the city’s health department said. So this year’s numbers might not include all of the doses delivered in November. In addition, shots administered at employee health clinics or through other campaigns may be missing.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole noted that flu vaccine uptake nationally is lagging compare with last year. She said the shot is important, especially for children and older adults.

“I would encourage everybody to get the flu shot,” she said.