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Abstract
Vaccination is a powerful public health tool that has been of tremendous benefit in protecting vulnerable populations from specific infections. Moreover, in addition to the direct benefits to vaccinated individuals, the indirect effects of protection at the community level have also been demonstrated and termed ‘herd immunity’. The predicted demographic shift in the population landscape towards an ever-increasing aging population and the evidence suggesting that older individuals produce less-than-optimal vaccine responses have raised the question of rethinking vaccine schedules. This article provides evidence that even if herd immunity might be an option to indirectly protect the aging and aged adult population, the highest priorities for the near future must be to understand how vaccine responses in older individuals can be improved, to break down the public, cultural, societal and political barriers to vaccination and to counter the antivaccination movement that inhibits the worldwide spread of lifelong immunization programs.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.