I have already noticed many patients requesting the vaccine in the clinic. Is this just hype? Will there be higher than usual influenza activity this year? Time will tell.
From my experience with healthcare workers, there is a always a significant fraction who are recalcitrant to seasonal influenza vaccination. The excuses are many, including, fear of needles, too busy, anti-vaccination tendencies, etc. To overcome this, some healthcare systems have made seasonal vaccination for influenza mandatory.
Will the (seeming) public enthusiasm for the vaccine spill over to healthcare workers?
Your guess is as good as mine.
