Education regarding herd immunity and local vaccination coverage may be a useful tool for increasing willingness to vaccinate, a recent study found. Researchers surveyed Minnesota residents aged ≥18 years in 2016 and asked them to identify the definition of herd immunity, to report their history of and plans to receive influenza vaccine, to report their concern about influenza, and to estimate the reported influenza vaccination coverage in their county. After providing educational information about herd immunity and local vaccination rates, researchers then reassessed vaccination plans and concerns. They found:

• 554 participants were included (median age 57 years, 66% female, 91% white, 93.3% non-Hispanic Latino).
• Overall, 37.2% of participants did not know about herd immunity and 75.6% thought that the influenza vaccination coverage in their county was higher than was reported.
• Those not knowledgeable about herd immunity were significantly less likely to report plans to be vaccinated at baseline.
• The proportion of those not knowledgeable about herd immunity who were willing to be vaccinated increased significantly by 7.3 percentage points after learning about herd immunity and influenza vaccination coverage.
• Educating participants eliminated the significant difference in the proportion planning to be vaccinated between the groups.