Workforce Immunization Policies for Daycare Employees Within a Large Health District

Background: Vaccinations offer protection against serious and possibly deadly diseases and help limit their spread among the population, and so are mandatory in many settings characterized by regular social interactions in close and confined quarters. They have generally been required for children in licensed daycare and school settings since the early 1980s, with some states and schools having policies in place since the mid-19th Century. Adults occupy these settings as well, however, and so ensuring they are vaccinated as well should also reduce the potential for disease and disease transmission. Yet, there are no known vaccination requirements for adults employed at daycare facilities. The objective of this study is to examine vaccination requirements and policies among daycare facilities within a large health district.

Methods: A 10-item questionnaire regarding vaccination requirements and policies and the importance of vaccination education was mailed to the administrators of 272 licensed daycare facilities within Georgia’s North Central Health District. The district has approximately 550,000 residents and is comprised of 13 counties.

Results: About 75% of the daycare facilities have no vaccination policies in place. Most (75%) facility directors indicated that such policies are important however, and 70% state that one should be required.

Conclusion: Vaccination requirements can help protect children and their caregivers from communicable diseases. From a policy perspective, the climate is favorable for the implementation of such requirements, in that most daycare directors recognize the importance of such policies and state they should be required.