Medicare Survey Explores COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Seniors

CMS has released preliminary data on Medicare beneficiary experiences during the coronavirus pandemic including coronavirus vaccine uptake.

The agency conducted the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) as a telephone survey. The survey period lasted from March 1, 2021 through April 25, 2021 and reached over 11,100 Medicare beneficiaries.

CMS reported that 64 percent of seniors who participated in the survey said that they had received one or more doses of a coronavirus vaccine. 

Half of the respondents had received their vaccine dose in February 2021. Most of the remaining survey participants reported that they received the vaccine either in January or March 2021. Only one percent received the vaccine when it became available to seniors in December 2020. 

On January 12, 2021, the Trump administration expanded access to the coronavirus vaccine to Americans ages 65 and older. That month, 27 percent of Medicare survey respondents received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Over a third of the survey participants (36 percent) responded that they had not received a single dose of any coronavirus vaccine. Of those who have not yet received the coronavirus vaccine, 45 percent responded that would definitely receive the coronavirus vaccine. Another 14 percent of respondents stated that they would probably receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Most respondents who had not yet received the coronavirus vaccine but intended to do so cited one of two barriers. Over six out of ten in this group said that the vaccine’s availability prevented them from receiving the vaccine, while 13 percent did not get the vaccine because they said that they were not in a priority group.

Nearly a quarter of the respondents who had not yet received the coronavirus vaccine (24 percent) stated that they either would probably not or definitely not get the vaccine. Of these, 44 percent cited concerns about the vaccine’s side effects or safety as the reason why they would likely choose not to receive the vaccine or definitely would not get the vaccine. 

Nearly three in ten respondents that had not received the coronavirus vaccine and were likely not to receive the vaccine or definitely would not receive it (29 percent) stated that they did not trust the government’s information about the coronavirus vaccine.

The majority of respondents perceived coronavirus as a serious health event. 

Nearly eight in ten of the survey participants (79 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that the virus was more contagious than the flu and slightly more than eight in ten (82 percent) said that it is more deadly than the flu. Ninety-six percent of the survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it is important for Americans to take steps to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

Seven percent of the participants stated that they had foregone care for at least one type of care due to the coronavirus pandemic since November 1, 2020. Three percent stated that they avoided care for one condition, two percent said they avoided care for two or more conditions.

Nearly a third of participants who skipped care (32 percent) stated that they had avoided receiving dental care and the same share of survey participants responded that they had avoided getting treatment for an ongoing condition.

The MCBS survey found that the coronavirus pandemic had inflicted damage on mental health, which was in alignment with other research.

According to the MCBS survey respondents, 22 percent of participants shared that they felt more lonely or sad and four in ten respondents stated that they felt socially distant from family and friends. Almost half of all of the participants stated that they felt more stressed or anxious.

In each of these areas of well-being, female respondents were more likely to report experiencing negative impacts than their male counterparts.

Payers have responded to the mental health crisis by launching programs that seek to reduce social isolation among seniors and expanding seniors’ access to mental healthcare support.