Every day, more Americans become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, however, almost half of all front-line health workers remain unvaccinated, even though they have been given priority access to the first available doses.
Only 52% of all senior health workers say they have even received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post.
This leaves 48% of healthcare workers at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, including doctors, nurses, housekeepers and home nurses, who are completely unprotected and vulnerable to the virus.
The researchers surveyed more than 1,300 health workers whose jobs expose patients or body fluids, putting them at greater risk than others of contracting COVID-19, which has infected nearly 30 people in a pandemic in a year. millions of Americans and killed over 500,000.
There are some side effects
Three different vaccines that have been shown to be effective against COVID-19 are currently on the market and are given to large areas of the US population. However, there were clearly gaps in distribution as well as in the willingness of individuals to be inoculated against the virus.
Of those health workers who remain unvaccinated, 12% said they have not yet decided whether to accept a blow to the arm. Another 18% said does not intend to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, citing concerns about side effects and novelty of vaccines, according to survey results.
Employers also play a role in helping employees access doses. Self-employed workers report lower vaccination rates.
More than 8 out of 10 vaccinated health workers who are not self-employed say they have received a COVID-19 vaccine through their employer. Meanwhile, only 1 in 5 vaccinated health workers who live in patients’ homes say they have received a COVID-19 vaccine from their local health department.
Vaccine skepticism among black Americans
Racial differences are also evident in vaccination rates among health care workers.
Black health workers, in particular, have been reluctant to be vaccinated, with 53% of front-line health workers saying they are unsure whether the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. This remains constant in the general population – 47% of black adults who are not necessarily health workers feel similarly, according to the survey.
There has been a historical mistrust of the medical community by many African Americans, resulting from past abuses that may resonate to the present. These include experimental operations on enslaved black women in the 1840s, as well as the infamous Tuskegee Institute experiments in the 1930s that examined the progression of syphilis in black men who were misled into believing they were being treated for the disease.
Employers in the USA they have the legal right to mandate the vaccine as a condition of employment, however, most choose to offer bonuses and other incentives to employees who are blocked, rather than enforcing compliance.
Experts say the government, community leaders and even private companies must be part of the effort to help individuals overcome the vaccine’s hesitation so that the US can obtain herd immunity.
Biden Administration American rescue plan, signed into law last week, will help fund the implementation of the vaccine by states, as well as other COVID-19 responses.
Specifically, the package provides $ 7.5 billion to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to spend on vaccination efforts. Part of the money will be spent on state grants to improve the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccination.