Abstract

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has adopted the guidelines and recommendations established by global health organizations and provides vaccination programs, both epidemic and seasonal, to all healthcare workers (HCWs). This article aimed at systemically reviewing the motivators and barriers for seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) among HCWs in GCC countries that would help in developing and finding an optimum strategy to increase the SIV uptake rate. Published literature about the SIV among HCWs in the GCC was recovered from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EMBASE, Scopus, and Directory of Open Access Journals databases. Only published articles between January 2000 and May 2020 were selected. A total of 182 studies were screened for eligibility. It was found that the availability of the vaccine free of charge and going to HCW units to administer the vaccines, in addition to campaigns and authority recommendation, showed a higher SIV uptake rate. Furthermore, targeted education with emphasis on the evidence-based medicine knowledge to show the effectiveness and safety of SIV and its value in protecting others and decreasing the burden of flu would impose a positive attitude toward SIV.

Key words: Keywords: Influenza vaccination, Healthcare workers, Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman