Most Germans didn't get H1N1 vaccine

Most Germans said they felt informed enough to decide whether to get a vaccination during the influenza H1N1 pandemic in 2009/2010, researchers say. However, the study, published in the journal Erosurveillance, said only 18 percent of participants said they perceived the risk of pandemic influenza as high -- and this proportion fell to 10 percent in January 2010. Researchers at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin found 78 percent said they felt sufficiently informed to make a decision for or against vaccination, but overall vaccination coverage remained low. Among those who decided against vaccination, fear of adverse events and perception that the available vaccines were not sufficiently evaluated were the most frequently mentioned barriers contributing to the low vaccination coverage in Germany during the pandemic, the study said. The researchers said during the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic in 2009/2010, a total of 13 consecutive surveys of the general population in Germany were carried out to monitor knowledge, attitude and behavior concerning the disease and vaccination against pandemic influenza in real time. In total, 13,010 people age 14 or older were interviewed by computer-assisted telephone techniques between November 2009 and April 2010.