Respiratory Vaccines: COVID-19, Flu, and RSV – A Data-Driven Guide

In the midst of respiratory virus season, the CDC has released its latest data on vaccination trends and intent among pediatric and adult patients in the US.¹ These figures on COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination lay out a comprehensive overview of immunization patterns and statistical insights regarding the public’s adoption of these vaccines.

They also come on the heels of a new recommended childhood immunization schedule from the CDC, which saw the first major revision in decades reduce routine pediatric vaccines from 17 to 11, as well as last year’s removal of COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for healthy children and those who are pregnant.^2,3 Among the highlighted findings from this latest CDC report are that less than half of adults 75 years and older reported ever receiving an RSV vaccine. Just 42.7% (95% CI, 40.3%-45.1%) report receipt of the RSV vaccine. However, the highest rates of receiving the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine (34.4%; 95% CI, 32.0%-36.8%) and an influenza vaccine (69.5%; 95% CI, 65.8%-73.2%) also were seen among adults 65 years and older compared with adults overall (18 years and older; COVID-19: 17.3% [95% CI, 16.5%-18.1%]; influenza: 45.5% [95% CI, 44.2%-46.8%]) and children (7.6% [95% CI, 6.9%-8.4%] and 44.2% [95% CI, 42.4%-46.1%], respectively).

COVID-19 Vaccine

For children 6 months to 17 years, beyond the 7.6% already reported to be vaccinated, parents of an additional 6.5% (95% CI, 4.3%-8.7%) said they “definitely” were planning this vaccination for their child, as of January 3, 2026.¹

However, starting with the week ending September 27, 2025,⁴ the first week of the 2025-2026 respiratory vaccine season, total children vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus are estimated to be consistently at or below the averages for the 2023-2024 vaccine season and the 2024-2025 vaccine season. These totals range from 0.9% (95% CI, 0.3%-1.5%) to 6.9% (95% CI, 6.2%-7.6%) vs 4.1% (95% CI, 3.5%-4.7%) to 11.1% (95% CI, 10.7%-11.4%) vs 6.9% (95% CI, 5.8%-7.9%) to 11.9% (95% CI, 11.5%-12.2%), respectively. This vaccination is currently recommended for individuals 6 months and older, “with discussion of the benefits of vaccination with a health care provider.” At present, only Moderna has an FDA-approved vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years, with 2025-2026 vaccine receipt measured by having received at least 1 vaccination since September 1, 2025.

Among adults, those reporting they will probably get this vaccine or are unsure range from 17.0% to 26.4%, a consistent result among the data so far. Those who report they will definitely get a COVID-19 vaccine have decreased since the start of the season, from 18.2% to 9.1%, but in conjunction with a continuous increase in those reporting its receipt: from 7.7% to 17.3%.

Flu Vaccine

Although far below a 100% vaccination rate, since the week ending October 11, 2025, there has been a consistent increase in children and adults receiving the flu vaccine. For children, the rate has risen from 20.4% to 44.2%, and for adults, 21.2% to 45.5%.

With a Healthy People target of 70%,⁵ the current estimated seasonal average so far is below that of every flu season since the 2019-2020 season for pediatric patients:

• 2025-2026: 42.5% (95% CI, 40.4%-44.7%)
• 2024-2025: 44.0% (95% CI, 43.3%-44.6%)
• 2023-2024: 48.2% (95% CI, 47.5%-48.9%)
• 2022-2023: 51.1% (95% CI, 50.2%-52.1%)
• 2021-2022: 48.5% (95% CI, 47.8%-49.3%)
• 2020-2021: 52.6% (95% CI, 52.0%-53.3%)
• 2019-2020: 55.7% (95% CI, 55.1%-56.4%)

Since the start of the season, parents reporting their child will “probably” get a flu vaccine has been somewhat steady, starting at 20.3% and currently coming in at 14.2%. Further, concurrent with the decrease in those reporting their child will definitely get a flu vaccine, from 28.4% to 8.8%, is an increase in children who have received the flu vaccine, from 17.2% to 42.5%.

Also, with a Healthy People target of 70%,⁶ the results on flu vaccination for adults currently are above the prior 2 seasons:

• 2025-2026: 44.1% (95% CI, 41.9%-46.2%)
• 2024-2025: 41.7% (95% CI, 41.2%-42.3%)
• 2023-2024: 43.6% (95% CI, 43.1%-44.2%)

The number of those who have received this vaccination so far has risen from 21.3% to 44.1%, as those reporting they will definitely get the vaccine have tumbled from 25.7% to 6.1%, and those reporting they will probably get the flu vaccine or are unsure have dropped from 20.1% to 18.9%.

RSV Vaccine

At present, full-strength vaccination against RSV is recommended for all adults 75 years and older and adults aged 50 to 74 years at high risk of contracting RSV.¹ For pregnant women, the CDC recommends a maternal RSV vaccine, dosed with an infant antibody, for those between 32 and 36 weeks gestation for September through January.⁷ For infants, there are 2 options: maternal vaccination or 1 of 2 long-acting infant RSV antibodies: nirsevimab or clesrovimab.

With only data for the most recent season available,¹ the adult populations targeted for this vaccine so far exhibit a steady rate, starting at an estimated 28.8% (95% CI, 26.0%-31.7%) for the week ending October 11, 2025, and coming in at 32.5% (95% CI, 30.0%-35.0%) for the week ending January 3, 2026. Those reporting they definitely will get the RSV vaccine at present come in at 11.4%, down from 22.1% at the season’s start. Rates of those saying they probably will get an RSV vaccine or are unsure have fluctuated, starting at 33.3%, rising to 36.1% halfway through, and currently coming in at 32.8%. As of December 20, 2025, more than 16 million RSV vaccine doses have been administered.

Among pregnant women or infants who received an RSV monoclonal antibody,⁸ in October, November, and December of 2025, 3.3% (95% CI, 0.0%-7.4%), 3.6% (95% CI, 1.8%-5.4%), and 7.4% (95% CI, 2.6%-12.3%), respectively, of mothers reported vaccination during pregnancy only. Corresponding rates of infant vaccination are 36.3% (95% CI, 27.0%-45.6%), 29.6% (95% CI, 29.7%-49.5%, and 53.1% (95% CI, 42.4%-63.8%). In addition, among women aged 18 to 49 years with an infant younger than 8 months, 16.9% (95% CI, 11.3%-22.5%), 18.3% (95% CI, 11.0-25.5%), and 5.9% (95% CI, 2.6%-9.2%), said they would “definitely” have their infant get an RSV monoclonal antibody, while 32.9% (95% CI, 22.2%-43.6%), 30.3% (95% CI, 19.4%-41.3%), and 17.1% (95% CI, 11.2%-23.0%), said probably or they were unsure.

References

1. Vaccination trends. CDC. January 16, 2026. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/vaccination-trends.html
2. Grossi G. CDC reduces US childhood immunization schedule from 17 to 11 diseases. AJMC^®. January 5, 2026.Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.ajmc.com/view/cdc-reduces-us-childhood-immunization-schedule-from-17-to-11-diseases
3. Klein H. CDC pulls COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for pregnant women, healthy children. AJMC. May 27, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.ajmc.com/view/cdc-pulls-covid-19-vaccine-recommendation-for-pregnant-women-healthy-children
4. COVID-19 vaccination coverage and intent for vaccination, children 6 months through 17 years, United States. CDC. December 3, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/covidvaxview/weekly-dashboard/child-coverage-vaccination.html
5. Influenza vaccination coverage, children 6 months through 17 years, United States. CDC. December 3, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/dashboard/children-vaccination-coverage.html
6. Influenza vaccination coverage and intent for vaccination, adults 18 years and older, United States. CDC. December 3, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/dashboard/adult-coverage.html
7. Immunizations to protect infants. CDC. August 18, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/vaccines/protect-infants.html
8. Infant protection against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by maternal RSV vaccination or receipt of RSV monoclonal antibody, and intent for RSV monoclonal antibody receipt, United States. CDC. December 3, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/rsvvaxview/dashboard/monoclonal-antibody-coverage-infants.html