Uptake in public facilities was lowest in seven years
Healthcare workers in private residential care facilities were more likely to receive the flu vaccine last winter than staff in HSE facilities, new figures suggest.
A report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre found that, across 128 public residential care facilities, 32.8 per cent of staff were vaccinated against influenza in the 2024/25 winter season.
This compares to 37.4 per cent of staff receiving the inoculation in 103 private care homes.
Both public and private facilities significantly missed the HSE’s target of 75 per cent uptake of the flu vaccine among this group of workers.
Immunisation rates in public facilities was also significantly lower last winter compared to recent years. In 2023/24, uptake across 157 public sites was 42.2 per cent.
The last time flu vaccine uptake among this group or workers fell below 40 per cent was in 2017/18, when 33.2 per cent of staff in public long-term care facilities received the jab.
Uptake peaked at the height of the Covid pandemic – winter 2020/21 – with a 66.3 per cent vaccination rate was recorded.
In 2024-2025, the Midwest region, with four reporting faciities, reported the highest uptake at 58.2 per cent. The lowest vaccination rate was in the West and North West region, at 26.3 per cent across 36 facilities.
Across public staff categories, only those classified as ‘medical and dental’ workers managed to increase uptake compared to the previous winter. A total of 42.5 per cent of these employees received the vaccine in 2024/25, with a 100 per cent uptake reported in the Midwest.
Health and social care professionals had the lowest uptake of all staff, at just 27.6 per cent. This was followed by general support staff (31.1 per cent) and nurses (31.9 per cent).
However, private facilities saw significant variation in uptake. Here, vaccination levels were actually lowest among medical and dental staff, at 32.3 per cent. The highest rates were seen among those classified as ‘other patient and client care’ staff (41.2 per cent).
For the first time, the HPSC also surveyed staff on uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine. In 97 public homes, just 12.3 per cent received a Covid inoculation. This compares to 23.5 per cent in 87 privately run facilities.
Among all categories of staff, uptake in public facilities was highest among management and administration workers (26.9 per cent) and lowest among nurses (10 per cent).
Rates in private homes were highest among other patient and client care staff at 40.5 per cent and lowest among general support staff at 14.2 per cent.
The research included nursing homes, long term care facilities for people with disabilities, and mental health services.
However, the report notes that nursing homes were over-represented in their data, while centres for disabled people were under-represented.
The report also highlighted ongoing issues in how some centres record vaccination data as likely leading to an under-reporting of uptake rates.
However, the authors still described the downward trend in immunisation levels as ‘a serious concern’.
They said that the declining figures can be partly attributed to ‘a range of technical, administrative and behavioural factors’.
“Bridging the gap between actual and reported uptake is an on-going technical challenge for any data collection process, but as long as it is undertaken consistently over time, the trends observed in this survey are probably genuine,” they said.
For the forthcoming 2025/2026 vaccination season, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee has recommended that healthcare workers who are aged 60 years and above, or under 60 but with a medical condition associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation, should continue to receive a Covid vaccine once or twice each year as indicated by their underlying condition.
