The Flu Shot

The CDC recommends that vaccination for the flu begin as soon as the vaccine is available. There is plenty and it will be administered until our supplies are no longer available.

Vaccination, good hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette are the most effective ways to prevent the spread of influenza.

  • Each year there are over 200,000 hospitalizations from influenza, and an average of 36,000 Americans die due to influenza and its complications.
  • The CDC, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, and the Michigan Department of Community Health recommend that health care workers get vaccinated annually against influenza.
  • Health care workers who get vaccinated help to reduce the following:
    • Transmission of influenza
    • Staff illness and absenteeism
    • Influenza-related illness and death, especially among people at increased risk for severe influenza illness
  • Higher vaccination levels among staff have been associated with a lower risk of nosocomial influenza cases.
  • Influenza outbreaks in healthcare facilities have been attributed to low influenza vaccination coverage among health care workers in those facilities.
  • In 2013, 65% of Michigan hospitals reported having a mandatory influenza vaccination policy.