The share of people aged over 60 who receive a flu vaccination as recommended by Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) has fallen to a new low since the end of the COVID‑19 pandemic. According to data from the health insurer Barmer-reported in the mid‑week editions of the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”-only 40.8 percent of Barmer‑insured seniors were vaccinated against influenza in 2023.
In the first year of the pandemic, 2020, the vaccination rate was still close to 49 percent. Since then the proportion has declined and is approaching the pre‑pandemic level of roughly 39 percent. The World Health Organization, however, recommends that 75 percent of the population receive the vaccine each year.
State‑by‑state differences are pronounced. The lowest coverage, 29.7 percent, was recorded in Baden‑Württemberg, while Sachsen‑Anhalt achieved the highest rate of 55.2 percent.
Even among people with a high health risk, vaccination coverage is insufficient. Only 48.9 percent of residents in institutional care facilities and 45.6 percent of those in home care received the flu shot. For care‑receivers-both outpatient and inpatient-aged 70 and older, the coverage is even lower than for peers in the same age group who do not need care services. A similar trend appears among heart‑attack patients: in the 70‑to‑79 age group only 43.5 percent were vaccinated, two percentage points below the rate in the general population.
Barmer’s chairman Christoph Straub underscored the importance of vaccination among vulnerable groups, noting that studies show heart patients who receive the vaccine have markedly better survival chances. He also criticized the weak implementation of vaccination recommendations.
These figures apply specifically to Barmer members; the insurer is the second‑largest health fund in Germany, covering more than eight million people. Data for 2024 and 2025 are not yet available.
