Abstract
Understanding the potential impact of COVID-19 on receiving influenza vaccination among healthcare workers (HCWs) is of utmost importance. The purposes of the present cross-sectional study were to describe the characteristics and to explore the predictors of receiving influenza vaccination among a large cohort of Italian HCWs in hospital settings. Information was collected through an anonymous questionnaire from December 2020 through January 2021. General and practice characteristics, perceived risk of seasonal influenza, attitudes towards efficacy and safety of influenza vaccination, and reasons behind the decision to be vaccinated against influenza were explored. Fewer than half (46.2%) of HCWs agreed that influenza is a serious illness and perceived the risk of getting infected with influenza, and concerns about the safety of the vaccination were significant positive predictors. Fewer than half of the respondents were not concerned at all about the efficacy (48.6%) and safety (49.8%) of influenza vaccination, and 51.9% reported that they have not received a seasonal influenza vaccine during the previous season. The most mentioned reason for receiving the influenza vaccine in the current season was that influenza and COVID-19 share some similar symptoms. Study results will aid policymakers in developing vaccination education programs, promotion of trust to address negative misconceptions, and to achieve future high coverage among this high-risk group.
Highlights
healthcare workers (HCWs) can pass the influenza virus on to their patients (OR = 0.16; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.09–0.29), and those who declared to have been vaccinated for influenza both in the current and in the previous season (OR = 0.13; 95% CI = 0.08–0.21) were more likely to indicate the fact that influenza and COVID-19 share similar symptoms as a reason to be vaccinated
The study results showed that the attitudes, especially influenza’s perceived severity that was relatively lower than the perceived risk for infection susceptibility and to pass the influenza virus on to patients, deserve particular attention
It is imperative that public health strategies explicitly promote communication and educational campaigns for HCWs to correct misinformation regarding influenza vaccines that influence the uptake among HCWs
Summary
It is well-known that seasonal influenza can cause significant morbidity and mortality in most communities, with 3 to 5 million cases, and more than 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths worldwide [1,2]. The best public health strategy to prevent influenza is immunization through seasonal vaccines that are extremely safe, highly effective, and can reduce morbidity and mortality, especially if high coverage is achieved [4,5]. Despite this evidence and the efforts to encourage the vaccination, the body of data concerning the immunization of HCWs indicates that overall coverage continues to remain unacceptably low among this group [6,7,8]. The purposes of the present survey were to describe the characteristics and to explore the predictors of receiving influenza vaccination among a large cohort of Italian HCWs in hospital settings
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