Flu vaccine a tough sell for staff

Seventy per cent of local hospital workers in region don’t get the flu shot

WATERLOO REGION — Less than onethird of hospital workers in the region got the flu shot last year, a downward trend that has continued for the past four years.

In the 2016-17 flu season, just 30.1 per cent of hospital workers got the shot, according to a report presented at the Region of Waterloo’s Community services committee this week. That’s down from 37.2 per cent in the 2015-16 flu season, and “well below” the provincial average of 53.1 per cent.

“It’s a real contradiction. I can’t explain it,” said Bill McLachlan, president of Unifor Local 1106, the union that represents healthcare workers at about a dozen hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes in the region.

“There’s people who are opposed to the shot; there’s people who are not sure; there’s people who heard the rumours that they’ll get sick if they get it. It just goes on and on. At the end of the day, it’s their choice. You try to influence that, but you can’t force them into it.”

That resistance is ironic, given that hospital workers are caring for people who are more vulnerable to influenza than members of the general population. Babies and young children, people over age 65 and people with other health conditions, such as asthma, heart disease or diabetes, are most at risk from complications from the flu.

The flu kills more people than any other vaccine-preventable illness, sending about 12,200 people to hospital and causing 3,500 deaths across Canada each year.

The low rates among hospital workers aren’t unique to Waterloo Region, said Kristy Wright, manager of infectious diseases at Waterloo Region Public Health. Across North America, only about half of healthcare workers usually get the annual flu vaccine, which has prompted many U.S. regions and employers to make the vaccine mandatory. In British Columbia, healthcare workers must get the vaccine or wear a face mask during flu season.

The vaccine can be a tougher sell than other shots, Wright said, because people need to get it yearly to keep up with rapidly evolving flu viruses, and because it’s less effective than other vaccines.

When the vaccine is a good match, it can reduce the risk of getting the flu by 40 to 60 per cent.

But in any year, getting the vaccine protects those most vulnerable to serious complications from the flu, Wright said. That vulnerability is a real concern, she said. “That’s why we continue to engage the leadership at the hospitals.”

Grand River Hospital holds weeklong flu vaccine clinics at both its Freeport and K-W sites, and people can also get the flu shot at the pharmacy at K-W Hospital and in the hospital’s occupational health office. “The hospital is doing the best it can to educate our providers,” said spokesperson Mark Karjaluoto. “It is a choice, but we strongly encourage them to get immunized.”

The situation is quite different at long-term care home and retirement homes around the region. The health unit reports that slightly over 80 per cent of workers in long-term care homes in Waterloo Region got the shot, higher than the previous year and higher than the provincial average of 72 per cent.

At retirement homes, about 65 per cent of workers got the flu shot this past season, down from 76.2 per cent the previous year.

Those higher immunization rates may be due to the fact that the public health unit works very closely with retirement homes and long-term care homes to control outbreaks of respiratory illnesses, because elderly people both have a weaker immune response and are more vulnerable to complications from the flu.

Public Health runs a campaign called the Big Shot Challenge each year at retirement homes and long-term care facilities that promotes the flu vaccine and offers small incentives such as gift cards and recognition to encourage high vaccination rates, Wright said.

Flu season typically starts around now and lasts until about April. People can get free flu shots from their doctor, from their local pharmacy or from public health’s flu clinics. Information is available on the region’s website at chd.region.waterloo.on.ca/en/ clinicsClassesFairs/fluinfluenza.asp.