The article reviewed differences in seasonal influenza vaccination policies across 27 European Union member states, Norway, and Iceland during 2008–2009. Most countries recommended vaccination for older adults, people with chronic medical conditions, and healthcare workers, but only a few extended recommendations to children and pregnant women. Despite widespread recommendations, actual vaccination coverage varied greatly, with only the Netherlands and the United Kingdom meeting the World Health Organization’s target of 75% coverage among the elderly. Coverage for clinical risk groups and healthcare workers was generally lower, and many countries did not monitor these indicators. The study concluded that while consensus existed on who should be vaccinated, significant gaps remained between policy and practice, and further efforts were needed to improve coverage and monitoring, especially among high-risk groups.
This review was part of the VENICE-2 project, which collected data on vaccination programs in EU countries for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). I helped collect data from some countries and revised the article, but Jolita, representing the Irish institute, did most of the work. Interestingly, Poland recorded one of the lowest seasonal influenza vaccine uptake, which should lead to some reflection of the Polish policymakers.