Sixty percent of companies planned to offer flu shots to their employees this year, but a flu vaccine shortage prevented many immunizations and may translate into more people getting the flu and higher workplace absenteeism, the Society for Human Resources reports.
The vaccine shortage resulting from a contamination problem at an overseas manufacturing plant resulted in the United States receiving half of its expected supply for the upcoming flu season.
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A number of companies that normally administer the flu vaccine to employees to prevent sick days chose to give up their supply.
General Dynamic Electric Boat gives its employees flu vaccinations each year and was fortunate to receive a shipment of 1,500 doses for employees at its headquarters in Groton, Conn., and 800 doses for Quonset when the country faces a shortage, so the company gave those doses to the public.
“We felt as a company, it was our civic duty to provide vaccine to people who need them most,” said Electric Boat Medical Director Robert Hurley. “There was consideration over our own employees getting sick and being out of work, but we did what the CDC recommended.”
Woonsocket-based CVS Corp. donated 2,500 vaccines and Tiffany & Co. in Cumberland donated 140.
Luckily, Electric Boat received 1,500 more doses of vaccine and administered them to its high-risk employees at Quonset and Groton last month.
So far, Rhode Island health care providers, hospitals, visiting nurse agencies, the Department of Health and other organizations have received nearly 150,000 doses of flu vaccine for priority groups and expect to receive up to 50,000 more by the end of January.
“Without adequate vaccines, we are counting on people to do the common sense things to prevent transmitting the flu, like hand-washing, not sending kids to school if sick and staying home if sick to prevent from spreading it,” said Rhode Island Department of Health Chief of Health Communications Maria Wah-Fitta.
The flu is responsible for an estimated 1.5 million days out of work each year, and this year could be higher.
“The Department of Health is sending the message for people to stay home if they are sick. In the long run, it saves companies money by not spreading it to other employees, which causes the real economic impact,” Wah-Fitta said.
Staying home from work isn’t as easy as making a phone call for many employees though. Piling workloads, deadlines, staffing issues and the guilt of taking an unscheduled day out of work cause people to show up when they should be at home recovering.
“The problem is that every industry, with the exception of people in the Northeast who work outside, have heavier workloads at the end of the year – with the holidays and tax season approaching – during flu season, so employees get mixed messages about taking time off,” said Roslyn Stone, COO of the employee health agency Corporate Wellness Inc. and co-chair of the CDC’s Workplace Flu Prevention Group.
Also, employees may not have sick time left by the end of the year when the flu hits or worry about using up sick time at the start of the year, when the flu season is strong, said Lori Rosen, a work force analyst with CCH, an employment law information and software organization.
Employers can also alleviate the problem of workers going in to the office with the flu by consulting their insurers about flu symptoms and circulating the symptoms criteria, Rosen said.
The flu, or influenza, is a contagious disease that attacks the nose, throat and lungs. It usually comes on suddenly and may include fever, headache, tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches.
Between 10 percent and 20 percent of the Rhode Island population develop influenza each year, similar to the national average, the Rhode Island Department of Health reports.
There were no confirmed cases in the state as of the end of November. The flu season normally picks up around mid-January in the Northeast, but is difficult to predict.
