Dozens of health workers still refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, causing problems for the pandemic response by sending the wrong message to the public and risking staff shortages if employees fall ill.
It’s all happening as a more contagious variant of the virus begins to spread in the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Friday that this species could be the dominant one to hit the United States in March.
While there is no national data showing the number of health workers not getting vaccinated, governors, public health officials, and health care executives have raised the alarm about what appears to be a higher than expected refusal rate.
In New York State, more than 40 percent of health workers who are first in line to get the shot because of their importance in the COVID-19 response have yet to be vaccinated. It’s not clear how many actually rejected the vaccine, rather than not being offered it yet. But the percentage of workers who refused a vaccine in different regions of the state ranges from 12 percent to 29 percent, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
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“This is troubling to say the least,” Cuomo told reporters Friday.
The CDC warned that the new fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus could be overwhelming, already tense hospitals. Also, because it is more contagious, more people may need to be vaccinated to achieve the required level of herd immunity.
“The hospitals say ‘we have no more staff because the staff is getting sick,’” said Cuomo.
“That’s why health workers are the priority, because if you vaccinate the health workers, the health workers don’t get sick, the hospitals stay open. If the hospital stays open, it helps everyone. When the hospitals close, it hurts everyone. ”
The introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine in the US has been slow, probably due in part to hesitation among those in the first priority groups.
Most states have prioritized health professionals and residents of long-term care facilities for the first limited doses of vaccine.
It’s not just health workers in New York who are a problem.
According to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 29 percent of those who work in a healthcare setting said they probably wouldn’t or certainly wouldn’t take the vaccine, even if it was free and considered safe by scientists.
Experts say the reasons for hesitation among health professionals about vaccines are similar to the concerns of the general population, including concerns about potential side effects. Some may also take a wait and see approach to find out how the vaccine affects people who are more likely to use it.
“I am absolutely concerned that health professionals may choose to wait to be vaccinated,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“It really makes it extremely important to me that we get the right information to health professionals and that we get rid of myths and misinformation quickly.”
Hesitation appears to be especially prominent among workers in long-term care facilities, where the workforce cares for some of the most vulnerable members of society, who make up a large portion of U.S. COVID-19 deaths.
About 45 percent of workers in long-term care facilities have been vaccinated to date, said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, a trade group representing long-term care facilities.
“It doesn’t mean our employees are stupid or don’t make good decisions or anything like that,” Parkinson said. It’s just that there is a lot of misinformation. Rumors are rampant on social media. “
He expects more workers will be vaccinated after seeing colleagues get the injection without any problems.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved two vaccines for emergency use, and deems them safe and effective. Data shows that adverse effects are rare, but hesitation about vaccines, caused in part by misinformation and disinformation spreading online, has increased in recent years.
Employers could require vaccines for their employees, but they risk a backlash.
The staff at long-term care facilities are often already understaffed, and most don’t want to risk employees leaving the job if they are told to get vaccinated, Parkinson said. Instead, some facilities provide incentives for employees to get vaccinated.
“I’m much more of a carrot than a stick person,” Parkinson’s said.
“I have encouraged providers to provide incentives, rewards, and bonuses to people to get the vaccine, as opposed to punishments if they don’t. But somehow we have to do this right and much higher than it is now. “