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Saying you'll get vaccinated and actually doing it are two very different things. A new study found that 39% of adults who planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine and 16% who planned to get a flu vaccine still hadn't done so by end of season. Inconvenience, food and housing insecurity, and lack of provider recommendations were among the top barriers.
Vaccine hesitancy gets a lot of the blame for low immunization rates, but a new study published in Vaccine reveals another culprit: the gap between intention and follow-through. Among US adults who said they planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine in the 2025–26 season, 39% still ended up unvaccinated — including 24% who said they would definitely get the shot. For flu, 16% of vaccine-willing adults didn't follow through.
Researchers analyzed data from 3,390 US adults, tracking vaccination plans reported in August 2025 against actual vaccination status in March 2026. The biggest red flag? Not having been vaccinated the prior season — those individuals were roughly 4x more likely to skip the flu shot and 3x more likely to skip the COVID vaccine.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: These findings shift the conversation beyond hesitancy. Many vaccine-willing adults are simply running into logistical roadblocks — inconvenient scheduling, lack of provider recommendations, and cost or insurance barriers. That means targeted, practical interventions — better access, provider nudges, and outreach to socioeconomically vulnerable groups — could meaningfully close the immunization gap.
