Truth About the Tridemic: Don't Delay Vaccines

December 2022

Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine” Poll: Residents Have Little Fear of “Tridemic” Threat

• Poll shows public reluctant to get vaccines, won’t adjust plans for the holidays
  

Despite the rising rate of community transmission of flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—and the reality that all three diseases are spreading in a “tridemic” across New York City, Long Island, and beyond—results from the latest Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine” Poll indicate that the public’s urgency to get vaccinated for flu and COVID-19 is low.

Fewer than two-thirds (61 percent) of 600 poll respondents have received a flu vaccine since September 1, 2022, while just 56 percent of respondents have updated their COVID-19 vaccination with a bivalent booster.

“It makes me sick” and “I never get one” are the two main reasons for those who have not had, and don’t intend to get, a flu vaccine. As for those who will not get a COVID-19 bivalent booster: they “do not believe it is safe” or they “do not believe they need it.”

“This fall and winter, the flu is highly contagious along with COVID-19 and RSV,” said Mount Sinai South Nassau President Adhi Sharma, MD. “The flu and COVID-19 vaccines have been updated, and they are safe and very effective. I strongly urge people to take action now and get vaccinated.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 8.7 million illnesses, 78,000 hospitalizations, and 4,500 deaths from flu. The CDC’s latest 7-day daily average report for new hospital admissions for flu from November 23–29, 2022, was 4,201. This is a 17.6% increase from the prior 7-day average (3,572) from November 16–22, 2022.

Those who should give strong consideration to following Dr. Sharma’s advice are unvaccinated individuals, including those among the 36 percent of respondents who said they plan to attend large holiday gatherings and among the 60 percent of respondents who have minimal concern for mingling in large groups.

A study published in the April 2022 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that the risk of COVID-19 infection was markedly higher among unvaccinated people than among vaccinated people when they mixed at gatherings, with unvaccinated people contributing to infections among those who were vaccinated at a rate higher than would have been expected based on contact numbers alone. It also found that as like-with-like mixing increased, infection rates among vaccinated people decreased from 15% to 10% and increased from 62% to 79% among unvaccinated people.

The waning urgency to get vaccinated, low public awareness of the tridemic threat, and the fact that 93 percent of the poll respondents said they are not considering any changes to their plans for the holidays is of significant concern, said Dr. Sharma.

• "Truth In Medicine" Poll Press Release
• "Truth In Medicine" Poll Results (PDF)