Questions & Answers

2009 H1N1 Flu In The News

December 22, 2009 4:00 PM ET

2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Coverage

What is the National H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS)?

The National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS) is a nationally representative telephone survey that utilizes both land-line and cell phones. It is designed to get completed interviews with 6,000 households per month and to provide vaccine coverage estimates for adults and children. The NHFS data being shared this week were collected the week of December 6-12 with information from 1368 adults and 3,243 children.

How many people had received the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine at the time of the most recent NHFS survey?

Results of the December 6-12 NHFS survey showed that an estimated 46 million people (15.3% of the population) had been vaccinated against 2009 H1N1 flu. This represents 28 million adults (13%) and 18 million children (24%) who have received the vaccine. The amount of vaccine that had been shipped to providers at the time the survey was conducted was enough to vaccinate about 21% of the US population. Therefore, almost 3 out of 4 shipped doses had been administered.

How many people were planning to get the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine?

The December 6-12 NHFS showed that nearly half of Americans surveyed through the NHFS report they (or their child) have gotten, will definitely get, or will probably get an H1N1 flu vaccine. Approximately 1 in 3 of these people had already been vaccinated.

Who had received the 2009 H1N1 vaccine as of the December 6-12 NHFS?

As of the week of December 6-12, 74% of vaccine had gone to people in the initial target groups. This probably reflects efforts by states in recent weeks to expand immunization to people beyond these target groups.

Also, as of the week of December 6-12, 42% of all vaccine administered had been given to children.

How much nasal spray vaccine has been given so far?

Of the doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine given so far, 23% were the nasal spray.