Nearly 60 percent of Sunrise Health Region's employees declined to receive a flu shot during this winter's immunization program.
A report at the most recent Sunrise health board meeting revealed that just 42.5 percent of active employees accepted the influenza vaccine, which is free to health region staff.
"The number of employees being vaccinated has increased slightly through the past few years, but we would like to see the rate much higher. And ideally, all healthcare workers should be vaccinated," says Sunrise Director of Communications Sharon Tropin.
Experts consider low rates of flu shot acceptance among healthcare workers to be a public safety concern. Frontline health workers are at high risk of both contracting influenza and transmitting it to vulnerable patients.
Doctors and nurses also set an example for members of the public, who already tend to be skittish about vaccinations.
"Unfortunately, even healthcare workers are not immune to the persistent myths and misinformation about vaccines," says Tropin.
Concerns over the safety of vaccines in Canada have been thoroughly debunked by scientific research.
Employees are offered time during working hours to receive the vaccine, according to Tropin.
Proposals to make vaccinations mandatory for healthcare workers have been forwarded by various groups in Canada, but for now the shots remain optional.
