US health worker vaccine fears mirror public doubt

US health worker vaccine fears mirror public doubt


Thu, Oct 15, 2009
Reuters



WASHINGTON, USA - Hospital and other healthcare workers are at the front of the line to get the new swine flu vaccine, but many are resisting and even fighting vaccination requirements.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cannot yet say how many are reluctant to have the shots because the campaign has just started. But the number may be significant given that only about 40 percent of U.S. healthcare workers ever get vaccinated against seasonal influenza.




But the U.S. Health and Human Services Department is stressing that the vaccination campaign is voluntary.