# 3505
Mandatory flu vaccination for HCWs (Health Care Workers) has been a controversial requirement that, over the past year or two, has been gaining ground around the country.
As a group, health care workers have a dismal record of getting an annual flu shot. Nationwide, only somewhere around 42% roll up their sleeves each year, despite their frequent exposure to sick individuals every flu season.
Worse, infected Health Care Workers (HCWs) are well positioned to pass on the flu virus to non-infected patients. How often this happens is anyone's guess, but it most certainly does happen.
Several hospitals have made flu vaccination a requirement for employment, and APIC, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology came out in favor of this practice last October.
Some of my earlier blogs on this subject include:
BJC: Mandatory Flu Shots For HCWs
UK: Unvaccinated Health Care Workers Spread Flu
Ongoing Debate: Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Care Workers?
APIC Seeking Mandatory Flu Shot For HCWs
While I’m not completely comfortable with the idea that flu shots be mandated for HCWs, I recognize that the day is coming.
It does make sense from a health standpoint, and while it won’t eliminate the risk of passing on the virus to a patient, it should reduce the risk.
Infection control has also become a big-ticket liability concern, and hospitals and other healthcare facilities are doing what they can to limit their exposure.
A Hat tip to Pixie on the Flu Wiki for posting this article from the Healthcare Association of New York.
Mandatory Flu Vaccines for Hospital Workers Moving as Emergency Rule
A regulation that would require influenza vaccinations for all hospital workers is moving through the regulatory process and is expected to be in place for this fall’s influenza season.
The proposal, available on the HANYS Web site, is on the agenda for next week’s meeting of the Codes Committee of the State Hospital Review and Planning Council (SHRPC). A separate mandate for nursing home employees, requiring a statutory change, is under consideration in the State Legislature.
If approved, the regulation would apply to all personnel working in hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, certified home health agencies, long-term home health care programs, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome home care programs, licensed home care services agencies, and hospices. Under the proposal, hospitals and other covered health care facilities would have to provide or arrange for the flu vaccinations at no cost to their employees. The only exemption is in cases where the vaccine is medically contraindicated.
The definition of staff who would be covered under the rule includes: “. . . all persons employed or affiliated with a healthcare facility, whether paid or unpaid, including but not limited to employees, members of the medical staff, contract staff, students, and volunteers, who either have direct contact with patients or whose activities are such that if they were infected with influenza, they could potentially expose patients, or others who have direct contact with patients, to influenza.”
The proposal could apply to provision of the H1N1 flu vaccine, should that vaccine become available in sufficient supplies and should health care workers be among those listed as a first priority to receive the vaccine.
HANYS will provide an update after the discussion at the SHRPC committee meetings next week.
