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Journal Article Ahead of print 1 citation

PubMed: 42392011 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128839

Vaccination policies for healthcare personnel in Europe, 2026.

Vaccine 88:128839

Authors: Helena C Maltezou, Michael Borg, Elisabeth Botelho-Nevers, Arne B Brantsæter, Saulius Caplinskas, Liudmyla Chernyshova, Olga Cirstea, Rok Civljak, Klara Dokova, Oana Falup-Pecurariu, Irina Filippova, Filipe Froes, Marta Grgič Vitek, Ulrich Heininger, Judith M Hübschen, Kamilla S Josefsdottir, George Kassianos, Maria Koliou, Jan Kyncl, Fedir Lapii, Per Ljungman, Snežana Medić, Zsuzsanna Molnar, Aneta Nitsch-Osuch, Hanna Nohynek, Raul Ortiz de Lejarazu, Barbara Rath, Silvio Tafuri, Liam Townsend, Romana Ulbrichtová, Pierre Van Damme, Gerrit A van Essen, Marie-Louise von Linstow, Ursula Wiedermann, Dace Zavadska, Gregory A Poland

Affiliations

  • National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece.
  • University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
  • University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France; Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Université de Lyon, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
  • Member of the Parliament of Lithuania, former Director of the Lithuanian Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS, Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu", Chisinau, Moldavia.
  • University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Dr. Fran Mihaljevic University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia.
  • Medical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria.
  • Transilvania University, Brasov, Romania.
  • Health Board, Tallinn, Estonia.
  • Hospital Pulido Valente-ULSSM, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • National Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • University of Basel Children's Hospital and University of Basel Faculty of Medicine, Basel, Switzerland.
  • Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
  • Directorate of Health, Reykjavik, Iceland.
  • British Global & Travel Health Association, Bath, United Kingdom.
  • University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
  • National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czechia; Third Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
  • International European University, Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia; Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia.
  • National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy, Budapest, Hungary.
  • Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
  • Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
  • National Influenza Centre, Valladolid, Spain.
  • Vaccine Safety Initiative, Berlin, Germany; Marie et Louis Pasteur University, Besançon, France.
  • University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
  • St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia.
  • University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Dutch Immunization Foundation, Amersfoort, Netherlands.
  • University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
  • Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia.
  • Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States; Atria Research and Global Health Institute, NY, NY, United States.

Abstract

We studied current vaccination policies for health-care personnel (HCP) in 34 European countries. All (34) countries have vaccination policies for hepatitis B, 33 countries for influenza, and 22 countries for COVID-19. Vaccination policies for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella exist in 28, 23, 24, and 26 countries, respectively, and for tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and poliomyelitis in 21, 23, 23, and 15 countries, respectively. Vaccination policies for hepatitis A exist in 20 countries, and for tuberculosis (BCG vaccine), pneumococcus, herpes zoster, and human papillomavirus in 6, 6, 2, and 1 country, respectively. Lastly, 16 countries have vaccination policies for meningococcus B, 4 for meningococcus C, and 19 for meningococci ACWY (quadrivalent vaccine). Sixteen countries mandate particular vaccinations for HCP (mainly against hepatitis B and measles), including nine as a prerequisite for employment. Comparing the current vaccination policies with those we reported in 2018, we found that on several occasions vaccination programs improved and include an average of four more vaccinations. However, in several countries there are gaps in vaccination policies, particularly against measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and pertussis. Currently, most countries have vaccination recommendations for healthcare students before entering healthcare facilities. In conclusion, European countries have more comprehensive vaccination policies for HCP compared with 2018, however there are still significant differences between countries, in terms of the number of vaccinations, target personnel, and implementation frame (recommended or mandatory vaccinations). Given the resurgence of multiple vaccine-preventable diseases in recent years, evidence-based and harmonized vaccination policies for HCP in Europe are needed to protect HCP and patients and to enhance safety in healthcare facilities.

MeSH

Mumps, Vaccines, Rubella, Whooping Cough, Chickenpox, Measles, Vaccination, Herpes Zoster, Neisseria Meningitidis, Hepatitis