Weekly Influenza Vaccination Data Reporting FAQs

Facilities report influenza vaccination for three categories of HCP: employees, licensed independent practitioners (non-employee physicians, advanced practice nurses, and physician assistants), and adult students/trainees and volunteers aged 18 and over.  In other words, there is one category for all employees and two separate categories for non-employees.

Categories are mutually exclusive. NHSN includes space to enter vaccination data for other contract personnel, but these data are not currently required. Facilities wishing to track influenza vaccination rates among other contract personnel can choose to use this optional reporting capacity. For definitions of the denominator categories, please refer to the Table of Instructions: 57.211 Instructions for Completion of the Weekly Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Summary Form for Non-Long-Term Care Facilities (cdc.gov) [PDF – 233 KB]

The denominator for the weekly influenza vaccination measure consists of the number of HCP that were eligible to have worked at this healthcare facility for at least 1 day during the week of data collection, regardless of clinical responsibility or patient contact. Include workers on sick leave, maternity leave, vacation, etc. Include both full-time and part-time persons. The categories of HCP that should be included are employees (required), licensed independent practitioners (LIPs) (required), adult students/trainees and volunteers (required) and other contract personnel (optional).

The numerator for the weekly influenza vaccination measure consists of:

1.  The cumulative number of HCP in question #1 that received an influenza vaccination at this healthcare facility since influenza vaccine became available this season
2. The cumulative number of HCP in question #1 that provided a written report or documentation of influenza vaccination outside this healthcare facility since influenza vaccine became available this season
3. The number of HCP in question #1 that have a medical contraindication to the influenza vaccine
4. The number of HCP in question #1 that declined to receive the influenza vaccine this season
5. The number of HCP in question #1 with unknown vaccination status (or criteria not met for questions #2-#5 above)

HCP can self-report in writing (paper or electronic) that the vaccination was received elsewhere or provide documentation of receipt of the influenza vaccine elsewhere. Documentation should include the date and location of vaccine receipt. For this reporting measure, verbal statements are not acceptable proof of vaccination outside the facility. However, HCP can provide verbal statements for medical contraindications to and declination of the influenza vaccine, as written documentation is not required for NHSN reporting.

Cumulative vaccination data are the total number of individuals in the facility who have ever received the influenza vaccine since it became available. This is in contrast to incident vaccination data, which are the number of new individuals who received the influenza vaccine in a specific week. For weekly influenza reporting, facilities report cumulative data. An example of this process is below:

Week 1: 10 licensed independent practitioners received influenza vaccination.

Week 2: 5 more licensed independent practitioners received influenza vaccination.

Facility should report 15 licensed independent practitioners received influenza vaccination at the facility by the end of week 2.

There are a number of resources which will help you get started reporting weekly influenza vaccination data. They include:

General webpage for influenza documents under the “Weekly Reporting” headings: HCP Flu Vaccination | HPS | NHSN | CDC

Table of Instructions: 57.211 Instructions for Completion of the Weekly Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Summary Form for Non-Long-Term Care Facilities [PDF – 223 KB]

Methods and Strategies Used to Collect Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Data: General Strategies for HCP Groups [PDF – 188 KB]

Slide set on how to enter weekly influenza data: Reporting Weekly Influenza Vaccination Data for Dialysis [PDF – 1.3 MB]

To meet the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network reporting requirement per contractual obligation, dialysis facilities must report cumulative influenza vaccination data for each calendar month in the last full week for that month for the 2023-2024 influenza season. A week is designated as belonging to the month of the week-end date. For example, submitting data for the week of January 29 through February 4 is considered as submitting data for a week in February (and not January).

Facilities are required to report cumulative data for the last reporting week of each calendar month from September 2023 through April 2024; to meet this requirement, facilities should report vaccination data for the following weeks:

• 9/18/23 – 9/24/23
• 10/23/23 – 10/29/23
• 11/20/23 – 11/26/23
• 12/25/23 – 12/31/23
• 1/22/24 – 1/28/24
• 2/19/24 – 2/25/24
• 3/25/24 – 3/31/24
• 4/22/24 – 4-28/24

For more information, please see the following resource: Dialysis Flu Vaccination Reporting Guidance [PDF – 254 KB]

Facilities enrolled in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) Component report HCP influenza vaccination data through the HPS Component.

Facilities can submit influenza vaccination data to NHSN using .CSV file upload. Additionally, group and supergroup users can import data on behalf of their member facilities who report through the NHSN HCP Influenza Vaccination Module.

For step-by-step instructions on how to upload data using .CSV files, please see the following document guidance: Weekly Flu Vaccine CSV Guidance [PDF – 1.9 MB]

For information on the End Stage Renal Disease reporting requirements, please contact your End Stage Renal Disease network. For questions related to data entry and the weekly influenza vaccination module, please contact NHSN@cdc.gov. Please include “Weekly Flu Summary” in the subject line of the e-mail.