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Influenza vaccination in aged care: improving uptake

Noleen J Bennett, Alex Hoskins and Leon J Worth
Med J Aust 2021; 214 (5): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50955
Published online: 15 March 2021

To the Editor: Influenza vaccination of residents and staff in aged care homes is recommended by national guidelines1 and has been demonstrated to decrease transmission and burden of infection.2 During the current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, influenza vaccination of both groups potentially also reduces the risk of mortality associated with influenza virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 co‐infection. We sought to evaluate uptake of influenza vaccination by residents and staff in public sector residential aged care services in Victoria, where non‐mandatory vaccination programs are currently used. There are 178 public sector residential aged care services in Victoria, with the majority located in rural communities.


  • 1 Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System Coordinating Centre, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC


Correspondence: Noleen.Bennett@mh.org.au

Acknowledgements: 

We thank the Victorian public sector residential aged care services that participated in the VICNISS influenza vaccination surveillance modules.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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