A survey of more than 3,600 U.S. healthcare personnel has revealed trends in influenza and COVID-19 vaccination for the 2021-2022 influenza season.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examined the number of those receiving flu vaccinations, COVID-19 vaccinations including receipt of one or more doses and completion of a primary vaccination series, and COVID-19 booster vaccinations. Data were broken down by work setting, occupation and demographic characteristics.
Vaccine coverage
Overall, 80% of healthcare workers said they had received an influenza vaccination during the 2021–22 season, compared to 76% in the previous season, the researchers reported. In addition, 90% reported receiving one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 87% said they had completed the primary COVID-19 vaccination series.
When asked whether they had gotten a COVID-19 booster dose, 67% of respondents reported that they had.
Effect of requirements
Workers whose employers required them to receive vaccinations were more likely to do, the surveyors found. When the data was broken down by occupation, healthcare providers who worked in long-term care settings were less likely to report that they were required to receive any vaccine compared with those working in hospitals and ambulatory care settings, they noted.
The researchers suggested that past success in implementing a requirement for primary COVID-19 vaccinations puts employers at an advantage for requiring their workers to receive COVID-19 booster doses. Doing so may help to restore declining vaccine efficacy among healthcare personnel since their first vaccinations, they said.
CDC suggestions, toolkit
Requirements to report vaccinations and to educate staff about the shots may help to encourage more vaccination coverage in these settings as well, the study’s authors also wrote. Currently, skilled nursing facilities must report healthcare personnel vaccination data for both COVID-19 and flu to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. In addition, an interim final rule published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires LTC settings to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to staff members and residents and provide education about benefits and potential side effects.
The CDC offers a web-based toolkit to help long-term care providers encourage vaccination among healthcare personnel.
The survey findings were published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
