Nina Hemmings1, Camille Oung1, Stefanie Ettelt2, Maximilian Salcher-Konrad2, Natasha Curry1 and Adelina Comas-Herrera2
This evidence summary provides a rapid review of international evidence on measures to increase update of Covid-19 vaccinations among staff working in social care settings, covering evidence available up to May 2021.
Key findings:
- Modelling studies suggest that increasing levels of staff vaccination in care homes may significantly reduce the number of symptomatic cases among care residents, even in scenarios where the majority of residents are already fully vaccinated.
- Around 2 in 5 local authorities in England report staff vaccination rates below the 80% threshold advised by SAGE for older adult care homes.
- A number of factors are associated with lower uptake of Covid-19 vaccine among long-term care staff, including access barriers; lack of sufficient information and education about the vaccine; mistrust; and sociodemographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity and income). It is important that these factors are well understood.
- There are live discussions on how to increase uptake of vaccination among people working in social care settings, including, in many countries, a consideration of making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for specific groups.
- A recent international overview has shown that very few governments have mandated Covid-19 vaccination of people working in social care settings. Italy have mandated vaccination for healthcare professionals working across health and social care settings. A public health order introduced by the New South Wales state government in Australia requires Covid-19 vaccines for any person who has not received a flu vaccine, in order to enter a residential care home. To date, evidence of the effectiveness of mandatory policies compared to alternative strategies, in increasing uptake of Covid-19 vaccines among long-term care staff specifically, is limited.
- Other strategies to encourage vaccine take-up and reduce hesitancy, besides mandating, include strategies based on behavioural insights, such as the use of targeted communications, increasing the convenience of being vaccinated, and sufficient time for staff to discuss concerns with peers, managers and trusted professionals.
The full summary is available here:
Affiliations and acknowledgments:
1Nuffied Trust and 2Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science
This evidence summary has been developed as part of the Social Care COVID Recovery and Resilience Project (funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme (NIHR202333)). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care).
To cite this summary:
Hemmings, N., Oung, C., Ettelt, S., Salcher-Konrad, M., Curry N. and Comas-Herrera, A. (2021) Evidence summary: Strategies to support uptake of Covid-19 vaccination among staff working in social care settings. LTCcovid.org evidence summary. https://ltccovid.org/2021/05/25/evidence-summary-strategies-to-support-uptake-of-covid-19-vaccinations-among-staff-working-in-social-care-settings/