Championing Patient Safety through Mandatory Influenza Vaccination for All Healthcare Personnel and Affiliated Physicians

Abstract

A mandatory influenza vaccination program achieves high rates of vaccination among HCP and affiliated physicians.

A Successful Strategy for Increasing the Influenza Vaccination Rate of Healthcare Workers without a Mandatory Policy Outside of the United States: A Multifaceted Intervention in a Japanese Tertiary Care Center

“…The rate reached approximately 97% and was similar to previously reported vaccination rates observed in studies with a mandatory vaccination program. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Comparison of previously published vaccination rates under a mandatory policy (as of May 20, 2013) with the vaccination rate in this study is shown Table 3.…”

“…6 This challenge has led to the implementation of mandatory vaccination policies for HCWs in some hospitals, and the vaccination rate among HCWs has substantially improved at several institutions in the United States as a result. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] However, a mandated policy can be difficult for a single institution in the absence of a governmental initiative (ie, legislation or regulation requiring HCWs' vaccination), 16,17 and there are concerns about overriding personal autonomy and responding to HCWs who refuse vaccination without appropriate justification. 18,19 Nonadherence to a mandatory policy has resulted in controversial outcomes, such as termination of employment of HCWs or suspension of admitting privileges in physicians who refused vaccination.…”

“…18,19 Nonadherence to a mandatory policy has resulted in controversial outcomes, such as termination of employment of HCWs or suspension of admitting privileges in physicians who refused vaccination. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Questions remain about how best to improve vaccination rates among HCWs if mandatory vaccination programs are not feasible. Although influenza vaccination for HCWs has been recommended, 5,20,21 the vaccination rate of HCWs under voluntary programs remains suboptimal.…”

Vaccination of healthcare workers: A review

“…54 This type of measure is mostly well-accepted. 86,87 In many instances, such mandates have been put in place after years of partially successful educational campaigns, and have resulted in coverage rates >95%, [88][89][90][91] even in 1 situation where it was low (<30%) before mandate implementation. 92 Terminations remained rare, around 1 per 1,000 employees at most.…”

“…92 Terminations remained rare, around 1 per 1,000 employees at most. [88][89][90][91][92] However, low compliance can also occur, which makes enforcement difficult and fraught with legal challenges. This happened to a British Columbia province-wide mandate, 93 which, unlike the other examples discussed here, was enacted by a body not directly responsible for its local implementation.…”