Adult Vaccines in the US: More Shots, New Dynamics on the Horizon

Current pediatric vaccine rates: ~90%
Current adult vaccine rates: 20% to 62%

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated an already emerging transformation in vaccine development. Driven by scientific and technologic breakthroughs, the adult vaccine market, in particular, is now on an historic trajectory, with more than 100 new vaccine product launches expected in the next decade, primarily focused on new indications.

The magnitude of the growth, however, will further complicate an already complex landscape. The adult vaccine sector struggles with low adoption rates, funding gaps, disparate racial and ethnic access, and delivery complexities.

A 2024 perspective piece, published in npj Vaccines, points to an early bias in the US toward pediatric vaccine development, driven in part, the authors note, by the surge in births during the post-WWII baby boom. Even before that, the first vaccine approved by the FDA was a pediatric shot against diphtheria, in 1920. The first adult vaccine, against influenza, came 2 decades later, in 1945.

The npj Vaccines perspective goes on to discuss the size of the adult vaccine expansion, with detail such as the expected jump in the number of vaccines available: 35 vaccines for 13 diseases in 2024 will mushroom to as many as 120 vaccines for 40 diseases; how the increasing number of shots will compress the current Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices vaccine schedule; and the authors' concern that the market is generally unprepared for the shift in volume.

In the short slide show above, we offer a topline look at the data from the full article, focusing on what primary care clinicians should be thinking about over the next several years.

References

Jones CH, Jenkins MP, Willams BA, Welch VL, True JM. Exploring the future adult vaccine landscape—crowded schedules and new dynamics. npj Vaccines. 2024;9:27. doiL10.1038/s41541-024-00809-z