Intention to receive influenza vaccination prior to the summer influenza season in adults of Hong Kong, 2015

Following a severe winter epidemic of drifted influenza A(H3N2) during January-March 2015, the Hong Kong government purchased vaccines of southern hemisphere formulation for administration prior to the anticipated summer influenza epidemic. This is the first time that seasonal influenza vaccines will be delivered twice within the same year in Hong Kong. We conducted a household telephone survey to investigate the acceptance of Hong Kong adults to pre-summer influenza vaccination. We found that the proportion of people reporting intention to receive vaccination was 37.8, 24.0, 31.4, and 34.4% in the age groups of 18-39, 40-59, 60-69, and 70 years or above. Only 31.3% of respondents who claimed they were parents or guardians said they would take their children to receive vaccination if the new vaccine was available. These findings suggested that intention to receive pre-summer vaccination was low even among the priority group of older people.