Ingeborg Senneset wants to make the flu vaccine compulsory for healthcare staff who have contact with patients. – It’s not coercion, it’s a professional requirement. She compares the vaccination requirement to a driving licence for drivers.
In an article in Aftenposten, freelance journalist and author Ingeborg Senneset argues in favour of making flu vaccination a job requirement.
The background to this is a survey by the Norwegian Directorate of Health in which 55 per cent of healthcare staff stated that they plan to have this season’s flu jab. This is below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target of 75 per cent vaccination coverage. The figures relate to planned vaccination, not to how many have actually received the vaccine.
Senneset describes this as ‘bad news’, which she read in the newspaper shortly after having worked in the healthcare sector herself. She therefore asks whether the survey suggests that the flu vaccine should be compulsory for healthcare workers.
– “Yes, actually. But not without some reservations,” she writes.
Calls it a professional requirement
Senneset points out that she has previously advocated for compulsory vaccination. In the post, she reiterates her own arguments from the pandemic:
– It’s not compulsory vaccination; it’s a professional requirement. And it’s not unusual.
She draws a comparison with the requirement for a driving licence for drivers, protective equipment for welders and hygiene standards for chefs. She points out that healthcare workers are already subject to requirements relating to, amongst other things, infection control.
At the same time, Senneset draws a distinction between staff who have patient contact and those who do not. For those who do not meet patients, she believes vaccination is, to a far greater extent, a private matter.
She does not specify what consequences a refusal to be vaccinated would have for staff with patient contact. However, as she indicates in her post, a driver without a driving licence would not be allowed to drive a car.
Will place the responsibility on the employer
Senneset emphasises that the requirement must be accompanied by practical arrangements.
– A workplace requirement for the flu vaccine must not become a threat or a way of pointing the finger at individuals. In my view, the onus should lie with the employer, she writes.
She calls for free vaccination during working hours and sufficient staffing levels to ensure that employees actually have time to get the vaccine.
At the same time, the vaccination advocate emphasises that she is not walking around feeling afraid, just ‘motivated’.
The post is based on her own experience with the healthcare system. Following an emergency admission in Thailand, she had to be tested for multi-drug-resistant bacteria before a hospital visit in Norway. She uses this experience as a starting point for her argument regarding the responsibility to protect other patients.
During the flu seasons since 2014, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), 571 reports from healthcare professionals regarding side effects from the seasonal flu vaccine have been recorded. 130 of these have been classified as serious.
Director-General of Health rejects compulsory vaccination
Three days later, Director-General of Health Cathrine M. Lofthus responded in *Aftenposten*. She shares the concern about low vaccination coverage, but rejects Senneset’s proposal for compulsory vaccination.
– But we believe that compulsion is not the solution. In Norway, the principle of voluntary vaccination is firmly established, writes Lofthus.
The Director-General of Health points out that nearly three in four employees in the survey believe it is important for healthcare staff to be vaccinated against flu. At the same time, 77 per cent would like to be offered a free flu jab during working hours.
Lofthus therefore intends to increase uptake through information and easier access to the vaccine. She urges employers to facilitate this and healthcare staff to take advantage of the offer.
Senneset also points out that voluntary measures can be successful. She cites departments that have achieved full vaccination coverage through information and on-the-job vaccination, and describes successful voluntary vaccination as the best argument against making it compulsory.
