Influenza Vaccination in Healthcare Workers: Should it be Mandatory?

Since 1981 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that healthcare workers receive vaccination against influenza in an effort to reduce transmission of the virus to their colleagues and to the vulnerable people in their care. To date inadequate progress has been made in terms of increasing yearly healthcare worker influenza vaccination rates. In this article the author reviews influenza epidemiology, prevention, vaccination, and evidence related to vaccination benefits; and discusses the elimination of barriers to vaccination. Voluntary interventions to increase vaccination rates are described. The benefits and challenges of mandatory vaccination, including both mandating of individual vaccination and institutional vaccination programs are reviewed. In the conclusion, the author advocates for rejecting mandatory individual vaccination and supporting institutional mandates that protect the right of the individual to decline vaccination for religious, medical, or philosophical reasons.