A recent AARP Public Policy Institute report published in the journal Preventive Medicine estimates that flu immunization could prevent 1,880 deaths each year. But recent data shows that while two-thirds of white adults age 65 and older reported receiving the flu vaccine, more than half of blacks and Hispanics in the same age group have gone unvaccinated.
“It's tragic that America loses so many lives each year to preventable diseases," says AARP Board Member Jacob Lozada. "Even more alarming are the drastic ethnic and racial disparities that exist in immunization rates. With so much riding on our health, there is no excuse not to get vaccinated."
Due to the prevalence of chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, among older blacks and Hispanics, they are also more susceptible to flu-related complications that can lead to hospitalization or death. It is estimated that the flu is responsible for 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations each year in the U.S.
Get more information and find out where you can get a flu shot here.
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