Last partial content update (see Table of updates): March 2023
In both acute and long-term health care settings, it is important that immunization be part of organized care plans within each department, with clear accountability for program planning, implementation and evaluation. There is good evidence that the use of health care provider reminders and standing orders or medical directives, as well as evaluation of vaccine coverage with feedback to health care providers, improves vaccine uptake. Immunization programs or increased uptake of available vaccines has been associated with decreased antibiotic usage. Antibiotic usage reductions ranged from 5% to 10% in randomized controlled trials to relative reductions of 64% in observational studies.
Recommended vaccination schedules differ among the provinces and territories; therefore, immunization schedule differences may need to be considered when discharging a patient to another jurisdiction. When transferring a patient, information about the patient’s immunization status should be provided to the receiving institution.