By Alicia Draus

Immunization rates for health care workers below goal

Jan 11, 2017 | 4:29 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Health care workers spend a lot of time with patients.

“Some of them are healthy, and some of them have underlying medical conditions and don’t do well when they get exposed to the flu” said Dr. Bill Ruzycki, adding that’s why it’s so important for health care workers to get the flu shot.

Alberta Health Services has set a goal to have 80 percent of its staff staff immunized, but it’s a voluntary immunization policy that is focused on education and promotion.

Jan 11- AHS Flu Shots from Chat Television on Vimeo.

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Currently, only 50 percent of AHS staff across the province have received the shot, but there are no plans to change the voluntary policy.

In a statement, Dr. Martin Lavoie, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health says “Alberta Health is not considering a mandatory policy at this time but strongly encourages healthcare workers to get immunized to protect themselves and their patients from influenza.”

As a family doctor, Ruzycki says he gets the shot every year and says it should be mandatory for all health care workers.

“There’s really no excuse for health professionals to get immunized,” he said.

But the shot is not just for health care professionals. Ruzycki says everyone should immunize themselves to protect not only their own health, but the health of those around them.

So far this year, 81,239 people in Alberta’s South Zone have been immunized. Ruzycki says misinformation online is one of the reasons why some people may decide against getting the shot but says it is safe and makes a difference.

“The scientific information says you reduce hospitalizations, you reduce the overall effect of the flu if you immunize,” he said.

To date there have been 182 confirmed cases of influenza in the South Zone this flu season and two confirmed deaths.

As for health care workers, the influenza program doesn’t officially end until March 31 so Alberta Health says there is still time to get closer to the 80 percent goal.