Vaccination in Aged Care in Australia: A Retrospective Study of Influenza, Herpes Zoster and Pneumococcal Vaccination

Background: Older adults living in aged care are at risk of poor health outcomes due to influenza, pneumococcal disease and herpes zoster infections. Despite these conditions being vaccine-preventable, little is known about vaccine uptake rates in the residential aged care setting in Australia. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study examining the medical records of resi-dents of 31 aged care homes in Australia (n=1,108). Data were extracted from medical records for the period March 2023 to September 2023. The proportion of residents vac-cinated against influenza, pneumococcal and herpes zoster was calculated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify possible demographic and other characteristics associated with vaccination uptake. Results: 1,108 residents were included in the study. Two-thirds (68%) were female, me-dian age was 87 years. All residents had one or more comorbidity. Most (92.6%) had received an influenza vaccine within the prior two years, but only 38.3% had received a pneumococcal vaccine and 16.8% had received herpes zoster vaccination. In all models, receipt of the other vaccines was a significant predictor for vaccine uptake. The other factor associated with influenza vaccination was abstinence from alcohol; and younger age for herpes zoster vaccination. Conclusions: While there is high uptake of influenza vaccines, there is a low uptake of both pneumococcal and herpes zoster vaccine in residents of aged care facilities. Further research into the barriers and enablers of vaccine uptake should be undertaken, with the goal of increasing vaccination uptake in this vulnerable population.