In light of recent media reports of more workers being fired for refusing to be vaccinated against influenza, I recalled the rather no-nonsense view of veteran vaccine science advocate Paul Offit, MD, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital…
Overriding objections by the nation’s leading occupational health agency, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee recently recommended that hospitals and other health care facilities that cannot achieve a 90% annual flu vaccination rate for their employees should “strongly consider” mandating immunization….
You may want to get a ringside seat to what promises to be a lively meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Feb. 7-8, 2012 in Washington, DC. NVAC is an advisory committee to the Department of Health and…
The federal agency most directly charged with protecting health care workers has come out against mandating that they be immunized against seasonal influenza. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — which likely would be charged with enforcing any such…
UPDATE and Correction: In a CDC survey on flu immunization the number of nurses immunized was 76%, meaning 24% declined. In the category of “other” health care personnel 41% declined. That latter percentage was incorrectly attributed to the nurses category…
Infection preventionists and employee health professionals have through this Monday Jan. 16th to submit comments on new federal draft guidelines designed to increase flu immunization rates of health care workers to 90%. The recommendations are more forceful than those typically…
Mandatory influenza vaccination programs continue to gain traction at hospitals around the country. Though outright termination policies are still rare, more and more facilities are invoking some level of consequences for health care workers who refuse shots. A survey…
While mandatory influenza vaccination policies continue to gain momentum in health care, there are some signs of a backlash against flu immunization as a condition of work. “This is a basic human rights issue, sovereignty over our own…
Hospitals gearing up for their annual influenza immunization campaigns this fall have a greater emphasis on mandatory policies to achieve the highest possible coverage of employees. A recent advisory from the American Hospital Association gives the push toward mandatory vaccination of health…
In the continuing hue and cry over mandatory flu shots for health care workers, questions have arisen about the regulatory position of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Can hospitals mandate that health care works be immunized without…