Flu, COVID-19 Vaccination Cover High Among Health Care Personnel

MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Influenza and COVID-19 vaccination coverage is generally high among health care personnel (HCP), with higher vaccination coverage among HCP who reported employer vaccination requirements, according to research published in the Oct. 21 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Hilda Razzaghi, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues surveyed 3,618 U.S. HCP to estimate influenza coverage during the 2021 to 2022 influenza season and receipt of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series and booster dose.

The researchers found that during the 2021 to 2022 season, influenza vaccination coverage was 79.9 percent. Overall, 87.3 percent of HCP reported completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series; of these, 67.1 percent had received a booster dose. The lowest influenza, COVID-19 primary series, and COVID-19 booster dose vaccination coverage was seen among assistants and aides, those working in long-term care or home health care settings, and those whose employers neither recommended nor required vaccination. HCP who reported employer vaccination requirements had higher vaccination coverage for all three vaccine measures, ranging from 95.8 to 97.3 percent for influenza, 90.2 to 95.1 percent for COVID-19 primary series, and 76.4 to 87.8 percent for COVID-19 booster doses.

“Work settings that successfully implemented requirements for primary COVID-19 vaccination could consider the same requirements for COVID-19 booster doses to restore protection among HCP that has declined since their previous vaccination,” the authors write.

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