SHEA: No Flu Vaccination, No Job!

According to the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), if you want to work in a healthcare facility, you should be ready to roll up your sleeve. The agency has released a position paper asserting that flu vaccination should be a condition of employment.

A study conducted during the 2009 flu and H1N1 season found that 39% of healthcare workers had no intention of getting vaccinated. SHEA is arguing that not only does the vaccine help prevent caregivers from spreading flu to residents, it also reduces the likelihood that the caregiver will get sick and miss work, potentially impacting care. This vaccine mandate would ideally extend to everyone who works in a healthcare setting, not just those who have direct contact with residents. The only exception would be those people for whom the vaccine is medically contraindicated.

The paper was published in Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology. To read it, click here.