Perception of Health Care Worker about Uptake of Influenza Vaccine in COVID-19 Era

Abstract

Background: Considering the important role of health workers in increasing seasonal influenza vaccination coverage and the similarity of seasonal influenza to COVID -19, it is important to increase vaccination rates to reduce the risk of both diseases.
 Objective: In this study, we aim to investigate how health workers perceive the importance of influenza vaccination, especially in the era of COVID -19.
 Results: The study involved 316 health workers from Abha in 2021, most of them were physicians, male and young. Participants agreed that influenza can be a serious illness and that the vaccine is very safe. Most HCWs would have preferred to inform their patients about the vaccine. This result changes if the patient disagrees with the COVID -19 vaccine.
 Conclusion: Despite the low rate of seasonal influenza vaccination, there is a need to recruit health workers to increase this rate, especially in the Covid 19 era.