More Americans are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine every day, but nearly half of all primary care health workers remain unvaccinated, even though they were given priority access to the first available doses.
According to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post, only 52% of all primary care health professionals say they have even received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
That leaves 48% of health workers at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, including doctors, nurses, housekeepers, and home care workers, completely unprotected and vulnerable to the virus.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,300 health workers whose jobs expose them to patients or bodily fluids, putting them at greater risk than others of contracting COVID-19, which more than a year after the pandemic infected nearly 30 million Americans and affected more than 500,000 killed. .
Side effects concern some
Three different vaccines that have been shown to be effective against COVID-19 are currently on the market and are administered to large segments of the US population. Still, there are clear gaps in distribution, as well as in individuals’ willingness to be vaccinated against the virus.
Of the healthcare providers who remain unvaccinated, 12% said they have not yet decided whether to accept an injection into the arm. Another 18% said they don’t plan on getting a COVID-19 vaccine, citing concerns about side effects and the novelty of the vaccines, according to the study results.
Employers also play a role in helping employees access doses. Self-employed workers report lower vaccination coverage.
More than 8 in 10 vaccinated health workers who are not self-employed say they received a COVID-19 vaccine through their employer. Meanwhile, only 1 in 5 vaccinated health workers who work 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 coverage among health workers.
Black health workers, in particular, have been reluctant to get vaccinated, with 53% of black primary health workers saying they are not sure the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. This is true for the general population – according to the survey, 47% of black adults who are not necessarily health professionals feel the same way.
Many African Americans have historically had a distrust of the medical community, due to past abuses that can resonate to this day. They included experimental surgeries 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 tricked into believing they were receiving treatment for the disease .
Employers in the US. have the legal right to make the vaccine mandatory However, as a term of employment, most choose to offer bonuses and other incentives to employees who are given a shot, rather than enforcing compliance.
Experts say the government, community leaders, and even private companies should be part of the effort to help individuals overcome the reluctance to overcome vaccines so that the US can achieve herd immunity.
The administration of Biden American rescue plansigned into law last week will help fund states’ rollout of the vaccine, as well as other COVID-19 responses.
Specifically, the package provides $ 7.5 billion to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to spend on vaccination efforts. Some of the money will be spent on grants to states to improve the distribution and delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations.