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Cynthia Williams had to get in the van that brought the flu vaccination team to her door.
Thirty seconds later, she was vaccinated and her nurse-practitioner friend Carrie Dugan slapped a bandage on her arm. Williams, who was working at one of the Wilmington Health System's HIV clinics in Delaware, was happy to leave, just minutes away.
And she was still participating in Christiana Care Health System's one-day blitz to try to vaccinate 12,000 people in one fell swoop.
"We try to do it all in one day," said Dr. Erin Meyer, a Christiana pediatric hospitalist and the team leader of this traveling van.
"If we can vaccinate them now, you know that they can boost immunity against the flu. We want our employees to be protected from the flu to better protect their patients. So we go by car.
During a very long day, which lasted from 16 hours to 21 hours, teams such as Meyer managed to vaccinate nearly 7,800 people against the flu. They traveled to 70 locations in four states, including Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
They aim for a vaccination rate of at least 95%. Last year, only 78% of health staff were vaccinated against influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
According to the CDC, just about everyone needs an influenza vaccine each year, but health care workers need it most. Not only are they more likely to be exposed to the flu, but they can also pass it on to the people that they are supposed to take care of.
The least likely to be vaccinated were workers in long-term care facilities, where patients are extremely vulnerable to the flu.
Hospital systems are trying to increase their numbers and some have started requiring influenza vaccines for workers. Christiana does not need it, but at least requires people to participate in the process. If they refuse to get the flu shot, they need a medical reason or need to take training to help them understand the importance.
In the past few years, Christiana has been able to vaccinate more than 90 percent of the workforce, said Dr. Marci Drees, head of infection prevention for the health system.
Making 7,800 people in a single day outpaced them, she said. "As we have done before, it would take two to three weeks to reach the 7,000 or 8,000 mark," said Drees.
"We took a huge start."
The system attempted to turn the "Hit me with the flu shot" event into a party, broadcasting music to hospitals and large clinics where staff queued for their vaccines, providing photo booths for Fun group shots broadcast live on local radio. station.
The smaller teams made unannounced visits, sometimes vaccinating only one staff member in smaller communities.
"We have a lot of fun," Meyers said as she was getting in the van from one place to another, her colleagues complaining to her side.
"I think it generates an esprit de corps among the staff."
As a rule, doctors and nurses have the highest vaccination rates, but Dr. Meyer said the goal was to immunize every person working in the network of hospitals, clinics and system consulting centers.
"Custodians, patient escorts, nurses, respiratory therapists – we all used them as role models and asked them to flex their arms. These are not just doctors and nurses, "said Meyer. "We even want people in the computer (information technology) to get it."
The United States has a low vaccination rate against influenza. Just under half of Americans were vaccinated against the flu last year, the CDC said. Most people who refuse it say they do not think that the vaccine is effective, but health experts say that even if the vaccine only prevents about 40 to 60% of the diseases, it can be sure that people caught by the virus do not do not do it. end up in the hospital or die.
The last flu season was particularly deadly. According to the CDC, 80,000 people died from the flu and 900,000 were hospitalized, the highest number in decades. And 181 children died. Eighty percent of the dead children have not been vaccinated, the CDC said.
Facilitating vaccine delivery can help to encourage vaccination. Nicole Harrington, a specialized pharmacist who received her vaccine at Thursday's event, said it worked for her.
"I came in," said Harrington, who was particularly eager to get vaccinated because she was pregnant.
"It was extremely effective."
Exercise served a second purpose. In case of disease outbreak or biological attack, the system has now made it a habit to provide vaccines or drugs quickly and effectively to front-line staff.
Vaccination will continue until the end of November, said Drees. The flu season usually peaks in the United States in January and February, but can begin in October.
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