Atlanta, Georgia — Only about six in ten nursing home residents received a flu shot last season, and fewer than half of the healthcare workers caring for them got vaccinated, according to a new federal report that offers the first comprehensive national look at influenza vaccination in long-term care facilities.
The analysis, published this week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found that influenza vaccination coverage reached 61.3% among nursing home residents during the 2024–25 flu season — and just 42.1% among health care personnel working in those same facilities. The numbers vary significantly by employee type, with contract and agency workers showing notably lower coverage than direct facility staff.
It’s the first time federal researchers have published a complete, nationwide picture of flu vaccination rates in nursing homes, drawing on data that nursing homes are now required to report to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. CMS mandated that reporting starting with the 2022–23 season.
Why the numbers matter
Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable people in the country when flu season hits. They live in congregate settings, often carry multiple chronic conditions, and face a far higher risk of serious complications than younger, healthier adults. When flu spreads through a facility, hospitalizations and deaths tend to follow quickly.
Vaccinating staff is just as important as vaccinating residents. Research has consistently shown that higher flu vaccination rates among healthcare personnel are linked to lower mortality among nursing home residents — and when workers get sick and miss shifts, care quality suffers directly.
The stakes extend beyond flu season alone. Researchers have been exploring whether flu vaccination carries broader protective benefits for older adults. Industry sources have noted that high-dose flu vaccines have been linked to meaningfully lower Alzheimer’s risk in older patients — a finding that nursing home medical directors are still working to incorporate into practice.
The staff gap is the bigger concern
The 61.3% resident vaccination rate is lower than many infection control experts would like to see, but it’s the staff number that draws sharper concern. At 42.1%, well over half of nursing home workers went unvaccinated last season.
That gap matters because staff members are mobile. They move between rooms, between facilities, and between their jobs and personal lives. An unvaccinated aide who picks up flu at home can carry it into a building full of high-risk residents before symptoms appear.
Coverage varied considerably by employment type. Direct payroll employees tended to have higher vaccination rates than contract or agency workers — a pattern that reflects the ongoing challenge of managing infection control across a workforce that relies heavily on temporary help.
What the data means going forward
Federal researchers say flu vaccination works best as part of a broader strategy that combines prompt testing, early antiviral treatment, and standard infection prevention measures. That combination, they say, can meaningfully reduce hospitalizations and deaths in nursing home settings.
The report stops short of calling for mandatory staff vaccination requirements — that debate has played out at the state level for years with mixed results. But it makes clear that current voluntary rates aren’t sufficient, particularly among staff.
For nursing home operators, the practical message is hard to ignore: the data is now being collected, it’s being published at a national level, and the comparisons will only get sharper each season. Facilities with low staff vaccination rates will have an increasingly difficult time explaining the gap.
