University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany.
Euro Surveill. 2014 Dec 4;19(48):20979. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2014.19.48.20979.
Vaccination reduces the risk of becoming infected with and transmitting pathogens. The role of healthcare workers (HCWs) in controlling and limiting nosocomial infections has been stressed repeatedly. This has also been recognised at a political level, leading the European Council of Ministers in 2009 to encourage coverage of 75% seasonal influenza vaccine in HCWs. Although there are policies, recommendations and well-tolerated vaccines, still many HCWs refuse to get vaccinated. This article uses literature from psychology and behavioural economics to understand vaccination decisions and the specific situation of HCWs. HCWs are expected to be highly motivated to protect others. However, their individual vaccination decisions follow the same principles (of weighting individual risks) as everyone else’s vaccination decisions. This will lead to decisional conflict in a typical social dilemma situation, in which individual interests are at odds with collective interests. Failure to get vaccinated may be the result. If we understand the motivations and mechanisms of HCWs’ vaccine refusal, interventions and campaigns may be designed more effectively. Strategies to increase HCWs’ vaccine uptake should be directed towards correcting skewed risk perceptions and activating pro-social motivation in HCWs.
接种疫苗可降低感染和传播病原体的风险。医护人员（HCWs）在控制和限制医院感染方面的作用已被反复强调。这一点也已得到政治层面的认可，导致欧洲部长理事会在 2009 年鼓励为 75%的季节性流感疫苗接种医护人员。尽管有政策、建议和耐受良好的疫苗，但仍有许多医护人员拒绝接种疫苗。本文运用心理学和行为经济学的文献资料来理解接种疫苗的决定以及医护人员的具体情况。医护人员应该有很高的动机去保护他人。然而，他们的个人接种疫苗决定遵循与其他人相同的原则（权衡个人风险）。这将导致在典型的社会困境情况下出现决策冲突，其中个人利益与集体利益相冲突。未能接种疫苗可能就是这种冲突的结果。如果我们了解医护人员拒绝接种疫苗的动机和机制，就可以更有效地设计干预措施和宣传活动。提高医护人员疫苗接种率的策略应针对纠正扭曲的风险认知和激活医护人员的亲社会动机。
