Editorial: Many Oregon health workers not getting flu shots

If you don’t have your flu shot, we aren’t going to berate you. That would be hypocritical. A certain editorial writer doesn’t have his, either.

But health care workers in Oregon aren’t setting the best example. Only 61% of the state’s health care workers were vaccinated, among those eligible during the 2023-2024 flu season. It’s a drop from the previous year’s flu season when the rate was 63%.



You can dive into the Oregon Health Authority data and see the rates of flu shots by facility. We looked up St. Charles Bend and St.

Charles Redmond. The rates were 33% and 39%, respectively, for the 2023-2024 flu season. So if you don’t have your flu shot, maybe it feels better knowing even many local health professionals aren’t getting them.

But that isn’t going to help the vulnerable — or people who can’t get flu shots — from getting sick..