Basic hygiene

Today, I decided to get the influenza vaccine administered by local public health agency on Saipan at the Marianas High School.

I was third in line and the nurse, after administering the vaccine to the two individuals before me, came to administer the vaccine for me.  I noticed she didn’t change her gloves between administering the vaccines to the first and second persons in line. I asked her to change her gloves, which she did after I asked.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for hygiene during vaccine administration is as follows: “…If worn, gloves should be changed between patients…” Here is the link: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/administration.html

At a time when face masks and hand sanitizers are ubiquitous, the callous attitude of the organization administering vaccines without consideration for basic hygiene is very concerning. I hope the local public health department comes with guidelines on basic hygiene practices for their staff.

Karthikeyan Viswanathan
via email