There are numerous evidences present in the literature to support the usefulness of vaccination for the treatment of viral infections such as Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Small Pox (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013). A person is given a shot once for these diseases and seldom need another shot. Health agencies are now able to make statement such as the eradication of Small Pox, Polio and Measles (College of Phycisian of Philadelphia, 2015). The efforts toward polio and measles eradication in the Americas have been possible only mainly because there was a very high level of political commitment and collaboration among governments of the region (Knobler, Lederberg, & Pray, 2002).
The policies employed to achieve the level of success
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Unwillingness of health care workers to take vaccination forces Governments and institutions to enact the mandatory vaccination process. Multiple strategies to enhance vaccination rate for healthcare workers in a large Midwestern health care organization with 26,000 employees remained low until vaccination was made mandatory for employment and the rate increased from less than 50% to 95% (Babcock, Gemeinhart, Jones, Dunagan, & Woeltje, 2010) . This shows that mandatory vaccination is effective in increasing the vaccination rate. Healthcare workers were willing to be vaccinated given the choice of vaccination or loss of employment. Their previous refusal to be vaccinated may not be deep rooted. According to this study, mass vaccination did result in a significant reduction in the number of patients and health care workers who became ill due to the flu. Making vaccine mandatory for health care workers is for the protection of patients, staff and other. If vaccinated health care workers are protected from the flu, it would help protect their patient whose immune system may already be compromised. Hopefully there will be a reduction in the number of persons who become ill by the flu and also reduce the number of fatalities attributed to the …show more content…
A renowned research group concluded last year that the public health community has been guilty of over-estimating vaccine effectiveness in order to encourage vaccination (Babcock, Gemeinhart, Jones, Dunagan, & Woeltje, 2010). According to the CDC (2015), effectiveness of the vaccine varies from year to year so there is no guarantee that nurses who receive the vaccination would be protected from the flu virus and therefore no protection of patient results from having the vaccination. A medical literature review in July, 2013, found vaccinated health-care workers had no measurable benefit on flu rates or the number of related complications of long-term-care residents (Weeks, 2014) . The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found the quality of evidence for reduced influenza death and total number of cases among patients to be moderate and low, respectively (Weeks,
This has been reflected in the new Public Health Act in BC, which allows authorities the power to establish directives and regulations for individuals when delivering a public health function (under Section 63). The act attempts to balance the autonomy of individuals and the right action for the public good. [14] In this case, the fine line between the workers’ individual right and freedom and protection of public health has yet to be explored and defined. It appears that the policy was on the reasonable ground that flu shot mandatory protect HCW and patients’ safety from getting flu. I believe that the key issue is to attain evidence-based study to ensure the vaccine safety and effectiveness for both HCW and patients.
This is an ethical and moral duty nurse, added that threatens the health, religion or life of patients who avoid vaccination, other than of philosophical reason, you can protect patients from cross-transmission. Recently Poland Jacobson as you did with other vaccines, e.g., measles, mumps, rubella and varicella is recommended enacting influenza vaccination of HCWs (Healthcare Worker). This view was supported by the mandatory vaccination argue that supporters can be justified in a given moral safety record of the influenza vaccine. In addition, failure, his own, to achieve the required number to despite the 70 percent vaccination rate for employees of the results from Johns Hopkins University Hospital (JHUH) of volunteer programs, senior epidemiologist
Controlling the spread of infectious diseases through immunization is one of medicine 's most significant accomplishments. Vaccination programs are proven to be a cost-effective means of disease prevention that have saved millions from death. Medical providers play an important role in the promotion of vaccinations; they can promote vaccination by following the standards for Adult Immunization Practice which include a four-step process: ♦ Assess immunization of all patients at every clinical encounter. ♦ Strongly recommend to patients the vaccines that they need.
Influenza vaccines direct and indirect medical costs have resulted in an effective cost saving for all ages especially the 65 and up (Carias et al., 2015). The direct and indirect cost of influenza vaccination is associated with many economic principles that ties in with 1) the health outcomes, 2) medical cost, 3) hospitalizations, 4) loss of lives, 5) inpatients admission, 6) over the counter medication, 7) out of patients visits, drug prescription, 9) days lost to work and much more (Carias et al., 2015). Therefore, the overall economic cost of providing vaccination to the population is relevantly high given the above factors that is considerable to weigh the benefits cost of vaccination.
Although many employees were vaccinated, the unvaccinated were still at risk because the virus could easily be transmitted via specific individuals. In order to prevent this, the government ordered businesses to take some precautionary measures without forcing individuals to get vaccinated. To avoid spreading the virus, OSHA recommended a series of instructions a business should employ before allowing employees in the building. “OSHA suggests that employers consider adopting policies that require workers to get vaccinated or to undergo regular COVID-19 testing – in addition to mask wearing and physical distancing – if they remain unvaccinated.” Thus, they are provided both a safer workplace environment and an alternative for
Also, it is stated that unvaccinated people should have a harder time to opt out of being vaccinated by having a higher health care cost, higher insurance, and separate activities. All of those are over-exaggerated for this issue because, they all call for the government to intrude into people’s personal lives and not giving people the freedom of their rights. In addition, some people do not get vaccinated because of religious views, but it is stated that they can opt out if their religion is documented. So, what happens to the people that become sick and are not vaccinated and cannot afford health care? They could possibly spread a new disease that vaccinations do not cover and puts vaccinated and people who are not vaccinated at risk.
If there is a way to help increase the number of children being vaccinated, then we should try to make that possible. This can be done by assessing the current situation with vaccinations in the United States, analyzing the benefits for this type of program and proposing how to implement a program in areas where immigration is a major concern. By looking at the immigrant population and ensuring that these children are also properly vaccinated then we can help to reduce the number of disease re-emergence so this is not a problem for us in the future.
Have you ever questioned why public schools are making kids get vaccinations? Vaccines are enforced in public schools in order to prevent virus spreading and potential danger. March 4, 1918, it started with an American soldier who reported sick with a flu and hours later hundreds were infected. Known as the “Spanish Flu” or “the epidemic of 1918” it is ranked as one of the most deadliest epidemics and had death tolls higher than that of World War 1. The impact of the epidemic on the 20th Century is that it provided insight on treatment of the flu, created the influenza vaccine, and a controversial topic for further research.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) recommend for vaccinations to all health care workers annually against influenza. In my Oncology unit, with immunocompromised patients’ nurses mostly 85% of us are vaccinated for flu, but remaining is supposed to use the mask and when get illness with cold not allowed to take care of such patients. The reasons for not getting the vaccine is the myth that it does not work for them or for some of them believe they do not need. In 2014 to 2015, healthcare workers of 64.3% were immunized where as only 62.9% in 2013-2014. Even among the patients and family the facts about flu vaccine to be explained the flu vaccine cannot cause the flu but it is safe and protects against seasonal influenza viruses, (www.cdc.gov/,2015).
Vaccination against influenza is the most important intervention used by public health to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and death among high risk populations. In order to create a program one must understand the target group. Therefore, the study would be conducted on the group of people who are particularly at high risk of getting the flu or those who are less likely to receive medical care. Questions would be asked to determine their greatest needs and what can be done to improve the health of the community. To understand the needs of these individuals, a discussion will take place with community and social service staff that work directly with the high risk populations.
Mandatory vaccinations eliminate personal freedoms, and could violate religious beliefs. Also, many people are very skeptical about the effectiveness of the vaccination versus personal hygiene. In an Indiana hospital in early 2012 eight workers were fired due to declining a flu vaccination (Farwell 2016). Lawsuits have even been filed over this dilemma, and if people feel strongly enough to sue over it, then hospitals should see that mandatory vaccinations are causing more harm than help.
One of the health objectives in the United States for 2010 was to achieve HCW vaccination rates of coverage of 61.9% (Nowalk, Lin, Raymund, Bialor, & Zimmerman, 2013). Frequently reported barriers to vaccination among HCP include concerns about adverse reactions, low perceived vaccine efficacy, low perceived susceptibility to influenza infection, and inconvenience (Nowalk et al., 2013). Recent literature suggests that vaccine coverage rates among HCP can be increased beyond the Healthy People 2020 goal of 90% by requiring vaccination as a condition of employment, and many institutions have recently moved forward with mandatory employee influenza vaccination programs (Bellia, Setbon, Zylberman, & Flahault, 2013). In addition, the Joint Commission infection control standard has required that accredited hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health providers evaluate healthcare personnel vaccination coverage annually and take appropriate measures to increase it (Naleway, et al., 2014). Despite these recommendations and standards, HCW rates of influenza
As a result, many hospitals fail to achieve a vaccination rate high enough to prevent the spread of the influenza virus. A recent article states that "only 42% of [health care workers] received the seasonal influenza vaccination during the 2005-06 influenza season" (Maroyka and Andrawis). Lower vaccination rates undoubtedly result in higher numbers of hospital-acquired influenza. In order for a hospital to reach an optimal rate of vaccination, yearly mandatory influenza vaccinations must be required, and the consequences for refusing the vaccine must be severe enough to motivate health care workers to receive
The mandatory vaccination requirement is regularly a point of concern to those who have objections to vaccinations. Flu shots should be mandatory for healthcare workers despite objections in order to protect patients and to minimize work days missed due to illness. According to CDC, 85% of healthcare workers get flu vaccine because they don’t want to get the flu, about 58% said they wanted to protect their families and friends, and transmission to patients was a concern of 38% of
Globally, vaccination has proved as a tremendous asset in curbing the spread of communicable diseases. Communicable disease such as smallpox, which is highly infectious, was thoroughly eradicated in the 20th century with the help of vaccines. Other notorious contagious diseases, such as measles, polio and rubella are also in the brink of eradication in this modern age through the widespread application of vaccines. By implementing mandatory vaccination, it’s not impossible to achieve that due to vaccination preventing new human carriers of disease from appearing. As vaccination prevents an individual from contracting a particular disease, the individual will not be a carrier for that disease, thus limiting the spread of the disease to others.