Vaccine hesitancy among midlife and older adults in the United States

Vaccine hesitancy has come to the forefront of the public health landscape in recent years, and many midlife and older adults in the United States (US) are not receiving recommended vaccines. We conducted an online survey in September 2024 with a national sample of adults ages 45-80 in the US (n = 1043) to examine their vaccine hesitancy. Overall, 42.4 % of participants were categorized as being hesitant toward vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy was correlated with political party affiliation, education level, and receipt of influenza and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations in the past year. Overall, 33.1 % of participants indicated their views about vaccines became more positive over the last five years, 26.2 % indicated their views became more negative, and 40.7 % indicated their views were unchanged. Our findings provide important insight into current vaccine hesitancy among midlife and older adults and can help inform future public health and communication efforts to reduce vaccine hesitancy.