Moderna has identified a fundamental barrier to vaccination: Many people don’t know they’re eligible. The biotech found almost one-third of people with underlying health conditions in the U.K. are unaware they could get vaccinated—and has kicked off an awareness drive to get the message out.
The U.K. assesses risk to determine whether a person is eligible for vaccines against flu, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Age is a key determinant of risk, leading, for example, to the U.K. offering winter flu and COVID-19 jabs to everyone aged 65 or over, but some younger people are eligible, too. People with health conditions such as respiratory disease, diabetes and morbid obesity can get vaccinated.
Moderna surveyed 3,000 adults in the U.K. to gauge awareness of vaccine eligibility criteria. The survey found 32% of people with underlying health conditions don’t know they are eligible for vaccines. Forty percent of people living with obesity are unaware or unsure about what vaccines they can get.
The lack of awareness doesn’t reflect a blasé attitude to respiratory diseases. Moderna found 55% of people with obesity are worried about getting COVID-19 or flu over the coming months. People with a BMI of 40 and over, the threshold for morbidly obese, are at higher risk of serious COVID-19 and flu.
The opportunity to reduce that risk—and drive vaccine sales—is significant. Around 2.7 million people in the U.K. have a BMI of 40 or above. The survey data therefore suggest that more than 1 million people meet the obesity criterion for getting vaccinated but don’t know they are eligible. Moderna is working with Obesity UK to change that through the "Stay on Track" campaign.
Visitors to the campaign website can check their eligibility for vaccination by entering their age and BMI or by inputting their weight and height to calculate their BMI. People who have a BMI below 40 see a list of other factors, such as being pregnant or having a heart condition, that could make them eligible for a vaccine. When a visitor meets the criteria, the tool shows them a link to a U.K. health service website.
The Stay on Track site also features advice on preventing winter illness, such as staying active and warm, that is relevant to anyone. Visitors are encouraged to speak to their “GP or pharmacist this autumn to help prevent winter illness.”
Moderna would be one of the organizations to benefit if people who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines heed that advice. The U.K.’s COVID-19 vaccination program, which runs from October to December, is only using mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. Moderna cut its revenue guidance earlier this year, in part over COVID-19 sales, but uptake of coronavirus jabs in the U.K. is in line with the past two years.