A new survey from the CDC provides data on how many US healthcare workers are receiving flu and COVID vaccines in the 2024-2025 season. Although the numbers aren’t as high as I would have liked, it is still higher than in the general population.

According to the survey, physicians and pharmacists had among the highest rates of influenza and COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers in the 2024-2025 season, while nurses came in toward the bottom.

This post will examine the uptake rates for COVID and flu vaccines among healthcare workers.

Flu and COVID vaccines for healthcare workers

In a paper published on 2 April 2026 in the CDC’s MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Mehreen Meghani, MPH, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, and colleagues reviewed data from a survey of 2,650 healthcare workers in the USA.

The researchers surveyed healthcare workers from March 26 to April 17, 2025, and categorized them by four work settings: hospital, ambulatory care, long-term care, and other clinical services. The investigators weighted the survey responses according to the distribution of U.S. healthcare workers by factors such as occupation, sex, and work setting.

Here are the key results:

• 76.3% of surveyed healthcare workers received a seasonal flu vaccine in 2024-2025. Rates were highest among pharmacists (94.6%) and doctors (92.6%), followed by nurse practitioners (NP, 88%) and nurses (79.8%).
• The flu vaccination rate for the 2024-2025 season was lower than the 79.5% average from the 2015-2016 through 2019-2020 season, as well as the 80.6% rate in 2021-2022.
• Flu vaccination rates were highest in hospitals (88.3%) and lowest among healthcare workers in long-term care (70.5%). Flu vaccination rates were 76.1% for other clinical personnel, 69% among assistants/aides, and 76.5% for nonclinical personnel.
• Overall, COVID vaccination rates increased significantly from 31.3% in the prior season to 40.2% in 2024-2025.
• The highest rates of COVID vaccinations were again among doctors (46.7%) and pharmacists (41.3%), followed by NPs (32.4%) and nurses (26.8%).
• COVID vaccination rates were highest among healthcare workers in long-term care or home healthcare settings (44.5%). This is compared to 44.1% in hospitals, 40.6% in other clinical settings, and 39.1% in ambulatory care.
• Among healthcare workers whose employers required both vaccines, 97.3% received the flu vaccine, and 82.8% had the COVID vaccine. Rates were 42.6% and 19.1%, respectively, for those whose employers didn’t require vaccinations.
• 73% of healthcare workers who were not required to be vaccinated, but were offered the flu vaccine at work, got it. This compares to a 48.4% rate among those who weren’t offered the vaccine at work.
• 42.9% of healthcare workers who were not required to be vaccinated, but were offered the COVID vaccine at work, got it. This compares to a 24.7% rate if they weren’t offered the vaccine.
• Employer requirements for receipt of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines were reported by 38.7% and 14.1% of healthcare workers.

Summary

It’s clear from this data that healthcare workers will get the COVID and flu vaccines if required and/or offered to them. The vaccination rates for these two vaccines are much higher than the general population under these circumstances.

On the other hand, there are disappointing flu and COVID vaccination rates for some healthcare workers, especially nurses. Considering nurses are often the main contact with patients, this is troubling. Unvaccinated nurses can easily catch these diseases or pass them along to patients — neither is an optimal situation.

Furthermore, the COVID vaccination rates were particularly low among all healthcare professions. This is a profound change from the days during the pandemic when healthcare workers were essentially first-in-line to get the vaccines.

So, these survey results are some good news and some bad news. Unfortunately, we don’t have good data on why some healthcare workers are not getting vaccinated. No, it does not mean that they know something about the vaccine and are refusing it. It probably only means that they think they don’t need them, but do get them when required by the healthcare facility.

Both vaccines are safe and effective. Healthcare workers shouldn’t invent reasons not to get them.

Citations

• Meghani M, Garacci Z, Razzaghi H, de Perio MA, Laney AS, Kriss JL, Black CL. Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Health Care Personnel – United States, 2024-25 Respiratory Virus Season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2026 Apr 2;75(12):164-171. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7512a2. PMID: 41926326; PMCID: PMC13046177.

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