Statistics

U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey

The U.S. Census Bureau has conducted a "Household Pulse Survey" each week in May, June, and July 2020 to determine the effects of COVID-19 on people's lives. Results show that Americans are experiencing delays in medical care due to concerns about the virus:

  • At any time in the last 4 weeks, did you DELAY getting medical care because of the coronavirus pandemic? "Yes" Response - 41% (consistent each week)

  •  At any time in the last 4 weeks, did you need medical care for something other than coronavirus, but DID NOT GET IT because of the coronavirus pandemic? "Yes" Response -  33% (consistent each week)

Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Survey

SCAI released a survey on January 13, 2021, which found that fears regarding COVID-19 continue to prevent patients from seeking care:

  • Nearly 40 percent of Americans do not feel safe going to a doctor's office during COVID-19.

  • More than 30 percent of Americans have not had a routine check-up with their doctor since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

  • More than half (51 percent) of people do not feel comfortable scheduling a medical procedure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • More people are afraid of contracting COVID-19 (58 percent) than having a heart attack or stroke (42 percent).

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Cleveland Clinic Study

A Cleveland Clinic survey conducted between November 14 - December 1, 2020, found that patients are avoiding care due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • Only 52 percent of Americans reached out to a doctor or sought medical care after experiencing a concerning health issue during the COVID-19 outbreak.

  • Eighty-five percent of respondents indicated they were concerned about contracting COVID-19 when seeking treatment for health issues at a doctor’s office.

  •  Many of these people turned to the Internet or friends and family for informal medical guidance, instead of a healthcare provider,

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Survey

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) initiated a two-week only survey effort on April 30 to understand how COVID-19 is affecting cancer patients and survivors. More than 1,200 cancer patients and survivors responded to the survey.

  • Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported some change, delay or disruption to their health care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  •  Of those who reported a change, delay, or disruption, the changes were suggested by the physician 64% of the time, by the patient 9% of the time, and jointly 27% of the time.

  • In cases where the patients suggested changes to care, they most often did so because of anxiety about exposure to COVID-19 (55%) and lack of certainty about whether they should go out in public to obtain care (18%).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Study on Vaccinations

The CDC published a study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicating that in May 2020, when compared with the month of May in 2016-2019, vaccination coverage declined in all milestone age cohorts, with the exception of birth-dose hepatitis B coverage. Findings included:

  • Among children aged 5 months, up-to-date status for all recommended vaccines declined from approximately two thirds of children during 2016–2019 (66.6%, 67.4%, 67.3%, 67.9%, respectively) to fewer than half (49.7%) in May 2020.

  • For the 16-month age cohort, coverage with all recommended vaccines declined, with measles-containing vaccination coverage decreasing from 76.1% in May 2019 to 70.9% in May 2020.

  • In addition to a decline in up-to-date status in almost all age cohorts, the number of noninfluenza vaccine doses administered and reported for children aged ≤18 years decreased 21.5%, and the number of doses administered to children aged ≤24 months decreased 15.5% during January–April 2020, compared with the same averaged periods in 2018 and 2019.

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Avalere Claims-Based Analysis on Routine Vaccinations

Avalere Health compared vaccine claims submitted from September to November 2020 to the same months in 2019. The analysis found that:

  •  Adolescents and adults in the markets studied potentially missed an estimated 26 million doses of recommended vaccines from January to November 2020 when compared to vaccination levels over the same period in 2019.

  • Declines in administration of recommended adolescent and adult vaccines persisted across all markets from September to November 2020; total non-influenza vaccine claims submissions were between 13–35% (adolescents) and 17–40% (adults) lower than the same period in 2019, suggesting that many individuals who should have received recommended vaccines in 2020 did not.

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