Not enough health care workers are receiving the flu vaccine, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. According to WebMD, the CDC reported that only 63.5 percent of the nearly 2,000 health care workers interviewed for the study said they had received flu vaccinations.
That’s about 84 percent of doctors and 70 percent of nurses, the report said.
And it’s not enough. The CDC wants vaccination to be readily available to all health care personnel in order to control the flu. According to Carolyn Bridges, associate director for adult immunization at the CDC, vaccination helps protect not only the workers themselves, but patients as well.
Vaccinations also help decrease the risk of hospitalization for pregnant women and children, she said.
According to one study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, pregnant women—who are at an increased risk for flu-related illness—are benefitted immensely by receiving vaccines. They’re also more likely to receive the shot if they were offered it by their doctors.
Similarly, health care employees who are offered free vaccinations are more likely to take them. Researchers said the flu vaccination rate was about 98 percent among personnel whose employers required staff members to get vaccinated, or if free vaccinations were available.
