According to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), all people aged 50 years or older and persons aged less than 50 years who have medical conditions that put them at increased risk for serious influenza disease should receive an annual influenza vaccination. However, since the mid-1990s, vaccination rates and racial disparities have mostly remained static, and there has been limited progress towards the Healthy People 2010 objectives for influenza vaccination coverage.

The purpose of this study is to determine what proportion of previously unvaccinated persons in target groups for whom influenza and pneumococcal vaccine are recommended will accept and receive influenza and/or pneumococcal vaccine in an urban emergency department (ED), and to estimate the potential impact of ED vaccination on population-based vaccination coverage. The intervention will utilize a combination of assessment survey, vaccine information and pre-printed vaccine order sheets.

The target population for influenza vaccinations includes all patients aged 18 years and older for whom influenza vaccine is recommended by the ACIP.

This includes all persons aged 50 years and older and persons aged 18 to 49 years who are in one of the following groups: 1) health care workers, 2) pregnant women, 3) residents of long-term care facilities, 4) household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of children aged 0 to 23 months, or 5) persons with underlying chronic medical conditions which increase their risk of influenza-related complications. The target population for pneumococcal vaccination includes all patients aged 65 years or older who have not previously been vaccinated against pneumococcus or have not received the vaccine within 5 years (and were less than 65 years at the time of vaccination).