Health · Public Health & Disease · 1 hr ago
Flu vaccination among Italians over 65 falls below 50%
Flu vaccination coverage among Italians over 65 fell to 49.8% in the 2025-26 season, down from 52.5% a year earlier.
Overall, coverage across Italy also dipped, from 19.6% to 18.9%.
The decline among older people continues a downward trend since the pandemic-season peak of 65.3% in 2020-21.
The rate for older people is below the 75% minimum target set for vaccination coverage; the optimal target is 95%.
Italy’s health ministry says high coverage is needed to reduce flu illness, complications and deaths, especially among older people and people at high risk.
Coverage declined in almost all regions, with slight increases in Bolzano, Lombardy, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Sardinia.
The latest figures show coverage remains well short of the stated targets, and the ministry emphasizes the need for high vaccination rates among groups at risk.
Influenza vaccination coverage among Italians over 65 fell to 49.8% in the 2025-2026 season.
That was down 2.7 percentage points from 52.5% in 2024-2025.
Coverage across the general population also decreased, from 19.6% to 18.9%.
The Ministry of Health says coverage has declined in recent seasons after reaching a pandemic-period peak of 65.3%.
The minimum coverage target is 75%, while the optimal target is 95%.
- Who
- Italians over 65.
- What
- Their influenza vaccination coverage fell to 49.8% in 2025-2026.
- When
- The 2025-2026 influenza season.
- Where
- Italy.
- Why
- The sources do not state why coverage fell.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Vaccination coverage among older people reached 65.3%, the peak cited by the Ministry of Health.
Coverage among people over 65 was 52.5%.
Coverage among people over 65 fell to 49.8%, while general-population coverage was 18.9%.
- Over-65 coverage, 2025-2026
- 49.8%
- Over-65 coverage, 2024-2025
- 52.5%
- Change among over-65s
- Down 2.7 percentage points
- General-population coverage, 2025-2026
- 18.9%
- Minimum coverage target
- 75%
What people are saying
a downward trend in recent seasons after the peak of the 2020-2021 pandemic season at 65.3%
it is necessary to achieve high vaccination coverage, especially in target population groups, such as people over 65 and high-risk people of all ages