Vaccination of Health Workers

Health workers are the backbone of any functioning and resilient health-care system. Without health workers, health services simply cannot be delivered: health workers heal and care for people, ease pain and suffering, prevent disease and mitigate risk.

Health workers as a group are at greater risk of exposure to some communicable diseases than the general population because of their contact with patients or infective material in their working environment. There is also a risk that infected health workers could contribute to nosocomial transmission of disease to vulnerable patients at higher risk for severe illness, complications and death. Protection of health workers through vaccination is therefore an important part of patient safety and infection prevention and control programmes in health-care settings, as well as a cornerstone of occupational health and safety.