MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A considerable proportion of hospital-based health care personnel (HCP) remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, according to a study published online Nov. 17 in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Hannah M. Reses, M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues analyzed data on COVID-19 vaccination among hospital-based HCP reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Unified Hospital Data Surveillance System.
The researchers found that among 3,357,348 HCP from 2,086 hospitals included in the analysis, reported COVID-19 vaccine coverage was 36.1 percent in January 2021, increased to 60.2 percent in April 2021, then slowed, reaching 66.7 percent as of Aug. 25, 2021. As of Sept. 15, 2021, 70.0 percent of HCP were fully vaccinated. Vaccination coverage was highest among HCP in children’s hospitals, followed by those in short-term acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, and critical access hospitals (77.0, 70.1, 68.8, and 64.0 percent, respectively). COVID-19 vaccination coverage was higher among HCP working in facilities located in metropolitan areas, followed by those working in facilities located in rural counties and in nonmetropolitan urban counties (71.0, 65.1, and 63.3 percent, respectively).
“Our analysis revealed that vaccine coverage among U.S. hospital-based HCP stalled significantly after initial uptake,” Reses said in a statement. “Additional efforts are needed now to improve HCP vaccine coverage and reduce the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission to patients and other hospital staff.”
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