Hospital Staff Influenza Vaccinations Have Declined Since COVID-19 Pandemic

More health care personnel (HCP) working in acute care hospitals were vaccinated against influenza before the COVID-19 pandemic vs during the pandemic, according to study findings published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The study assessed influenza vaccination coverage among HCP during 6 influenza seasons, from 2017 to 2018 through 2022 to 2023, using data from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Since 2013, acute care hospitals have annually reported aggregate facility-level influenza vaccination data to NHSN for HCP working in the facility for at least 1 day from October 1 to March 31. The researchers evaluated pooled HCP influenza vaccination coverage and facility-level coverage for each influenza season.

A total of 5231 acute care hospitals reported HCP influenza vaccination data to NHSN in the 2017 to 2018 through 2022 to 2023 influenza seasons. The overall pooled influenza vaccination coverage among HCP was 85.8% in the 6 seasons.

In the prepandemic influenza seasons of 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019, and 2019 to 2020, the pooled annual influenza vaccination coverage was 88.6%, 90%, and 90.7%, respectively.

During the 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, and 2022 to 2023 seasons, after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, influenza vaccination coverage decreased to 85.9%, 80.4%, and 81.1%, respectively.

HCP were significantly less likely to be vaccinated against influenza during the pandemic compared with the 2017 to 2018 season, after controlling for HCP type and urbanicity (2020-2021 odds ratio [OR], 0.76; 2021-2022 OR, 0.50; and 2022-2023 OR, 0.52). Compared with HCP employed by hospitals, influenza vaccination coverage was lower for licensed independent practitioners (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.34-0.37) and student trainees and volunteers (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.81-0.98) during all influenza seasons. HCP working in suburban areas were more likely to be vaccinated vs those working in rural areas (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.28).

Among several limitations, the analysis includes influenza vaccination data reported by facilities to NHSN on behalf of HCP, which could have resulted in an underestimate of influenza vaccination among HCP outside the hospital. Also, NHSN received aggregate facility-level data, and a reporting exception was granted for acute care hospitals for the 2019 to 2020 season, which led to only a subset of facilities reporting. Furthermore, NHSN does not include data about facility-level influenza vaccination mandates for HCP.

“Efforts are needed to implement evidence-based strategies to increase vaccination coverage among HCP,” the study authors commented. “HCP should receive seasonal influenza vaccines to protect other HCP and patients from influenza-related morbidity and mortality.”

This article originally appeared on Pulmonology Advisor