As Ontario braces for a severe influenza season, there is growing concern about the dwindling numbers of health workers getting annual flu shots. Read MoreDeclining uptake of flu vaccines among health workers comes at a time when officials are anticipating a severe flu season.
Declining uptake of flu vaccines among health workers comes at a time when officials are anticipating a severe flu season.
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As Ontario braces for a severe influenza season, there is growing concern about the dwindling numbers of health workers getting annual flu shots.
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Fewer than one-third of Ontario hospital workers got a flu vaccine last year, according to data from Public Health Ontario. In 2020-21, nearly twice as many hospital workers received annual flu shots, but numbers have steadily dropped since then, from 62.7 per cent in 2020-21 to 32.7 per cent last year. If the trend continues, the numbers will be similar, or lower, this year.
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Flu vaccine coverage rates for long-term care workers have also declined significantly in recent years — from 86 per cent in 2020-21 to 61.7 per cent last year, according to Public Health Ontario. That steep decline among long-term care workers is particularly worrisome for public health officials because long-term care residents are among the most vulnerable to severe outcomes, including death, from influenza, which kills hundreds of Canadians every year.
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The Evening Citizen
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Unlike other routine vaccines, annual flu shots are not mandatory for hospital and long-term care workers, though employers are required to report staff vaccination rates to Public Health Ontario. Health officials say the numbers are likely underreported because they mainly include those who get vaccinated in hospitals, and health workers who get their flu shot at a pharmacy or elsewhere can easily be missed.
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“We are confident that overall vaccination numbers are higher than this suggests,” said Ann Fuller, spokesperson for Queensway Carleton Hospital. Front-line health workers at QCH are required to show proof of vaccination if there is an influenza outbreak where they are working, she noted.
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Still, there are signs that rates are declining, and many hospitals are scrambling to encourage more workers to get immunized.
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Public health targets for flu vaccine coverage among health workers are around 80 per cent. For long-term care workers, they rise to 90 per cent or higher.
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The declining flu vaccination rates are on track with what infectious disease expert Dr. Gerald Evans is seeing in Kingston, where he works, and hearing from colleagues at hospitals across the country. Evans is chair of the division of infectious diseases and a professor at Queen’s University.