Despite the fact that it was a priority as the first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine, a large number of health and front-line employees are transmitting the vaccine. Early reports across the country show that health and front-line workers are refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In Ohio, 60% of nursing home employees have decided not to get the coronavirus vaccine. Last week, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) reacted to the low turnout by saying, “We won’t do them, but we’d like them to be more compliant.” He added that he was “disturbed” by how many asylum workers rejected the vaccine.
DeWine warned frontline workers that they would soon be out of line: “Our message today is: the train may not return for a while. We will make it available to everyone in the end, but this is the opportunity for you and you should really think about getting it. ”
Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, is frustrated that more than half of the nurses in his unit will refuse to receive the vaccine.
“Yesterday I had a fight – not a fight, but I had a friendly quarrel with more than 50% of my assistants in my unit, telling me they would not get the vaccine,” he said.
“Morning edition” of NPR.
“Some of these nurses had family members hospitalized, seriously ill with COVID-19,” NPR reported. “But he said some nurses and hospital staff members – many of whom are Latinx or Black – are skeptical it will work and are worried about the unfounded side effects.”
In California, an estimated 50% of frontline workers in Riverside County have rejected the COVID-19 vaccine, Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the Los Angeles Times.
“At St. Elizabeth’s Community Hospital in Tehama County, less than half of the 700 hospital workers eligible for the vaccine were willing to make the fire when it was first offered. At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, one in five nurses and doctors refused to be shot, “the LA Times reported.” About 20 percent to 40 percent of LA front-line workers who were vaccinated did likewise, according to public health officials in the county.
Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi, clinical director of Loretto Hospital in Chicago, studied hospital staff just before the coronavirus vaccine was released, and 40 percent of employees said they would not be vaccinated, according to NPR.
In a survey conducted in early December among members of the New York Fire Department, about 55% of uniformed firefighters said they would choose not to receive the shot, according to WNBC-TV.
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, published on December 15, found that 29% of those working in a health care setting would probably not or certainly not get the chance. The survey also found that 33% of key workers will pass. Overall, 27% of Americans “hesitate to get vaccinated.”
There is a strong division among Americans who are willing to get vaccinated based on their political affiliation. According to the poll, 86% of Democrats say they will definitely or probably get the coronavirus vaccine, compared to 56% of Republicans who said the same thing.
According to the KFF, the main concerns about reluctance in coronavirus vaccination are:
- Possible side effects (59%)
- Lack of confidence in the government to ensure the safety and efficacy of vaccines (55%)
- Concern that the vaccine is too new (53%)
- Concerns about the role of policy in the development process (51%)
Sheena Bumpas, a certified nurse at a home in Oklahoma, told the New York Times that she was reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine because “I don’t want to be a guinea pig.”
April Lu, a 31-year-old nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in California, declined to receive the vaccine because she is worried it may not be safe for pregnant women and is six months pregnant.
“I choose the risk – the risk of having COVID or the risk of the vaccine unknown,” Lu told the Los Angeles Times. “I think I take the risk of COVID. I can control it and prevent it a bit by wearing masks, although not 100% safe.”
Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci mentioned that coronavirus vaccines could become mandatory to go to school or travel internationally.