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Willingness to vaccinate and to be vaccinated in adults

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Abstract

Vaccination may be mandated by regulation, as in some national infant vaccination programs, encouraged by health authorities, as in ’Flu vaccine campaigns for adults aged 60 years and older, or linked to the informed decision of individuals. Other methods include promotion by incentives to general practitioners, and recommendations from healthcare workers. All these factors contribute to variable vaccine coverage between countries and between different age and socio-economic groups. Many other factors, including providers’ patient-oriented interventions and reimbursement issues play an important role in determining the level of vaccine uptake in a given population for a particular disease.

However, the first step in vaccination campaigns is to give motivating information to healthcare workers that the benefits of being vaccinated outweigh possible inconvenience or adverse reactions. The information must be complete and accurate. When it has been ascertained that this information is understood and accepted, a system providing cheap and easy vaccination must be organised. Special groups such as the house-bound will need particular attention, appropriate information, and be included in free vaccination schemes. It should be acknowledged that social pressure often influences (positively or negatively) the decision of the individual.

Lastly, a massive but objective information campaign is needed for the whole population, each and every visit to a health clinic being treated as an opportunity to check vaccination status and to vaccinate immediately if necessary. Simultaneous vaccination with two or more vaccines increases the chances of reaching the required population cover.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Luxembourg, Gen. Jungbluthlaan, 11, B-8400, Oostende, Belgium

    Jean-Pierre Baeyens MD

  2. Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva Medical School and University Hospitals, Thônex-Geneva, Switzerland

    Pierre Olivier Lang & Jean-Pierre Michel

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  1. Jean-Pierre Baeyens MD
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  2. Pierre Olivier Lang
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  3. Jean-Pierre Michel
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Correspondence to Jean-Pierre Baeyens MD.

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Baeyens, JP., Lang, P.O. & Michel, JP. Willingness to vaccinate and to be vaccinated in adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 21, 244–249 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324913

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