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All four nurses in a Kansas County health department refused to give patients the COVID-19 vaccines.
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The health department administrator shared misinformation about the vaccine as part of his reasoning.
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The county will hire other nurses to distribute the vaccine.
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All four nurses working in the health department of Coffey County, Kansas, said they would not give people the COVID-19 vaccine, a sign of how misinformation about vaccines is spreading even among health professionals.
At a county commission meeting on January 4, health department administrator Lindsay Payer said they were unwilling to give the COVID-19 vaccine, the Daily Beast reported.
“My team is not comfortable with that. It is a new technology that we have never seen before,” Payer told the Council of Commissioners at the meeting, which is available on YouTube.
MRNA vaccines, such as those now being distributed for coronavirus, have been studied since the 1990s.
Read more: What to say to a friend who is skeptical about the coronavirus vaccine
Payer said she and other nurses in the department were uncomfortable with vaccines and unsure of their safety, citing inaccurate information about vaccines. She told the council that the health department would hire outside nurses willing to distribute the vaccine.
Pfizer and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines have been studied in tens of thousands of people. The Pfizer final stage trial, for example, included more than 43,000 people. Vaccines were not rushed – countries and organizations invested heavily in all phases of the development process, saving time. Scientists have also been able to develop previous work with vaccines for MERS and SARS, which are also coronaviruses.
Data from both vaccines were examined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before the agency issued emergency use permits for injections. The FDA found that injections were highly effective and safe for most people.
Since January 13, Payer and other nurses in the Coffey County health department have not changed their minds. She told 13 News in Topeka that it was a personal decision for each nurse, not a message for or against vaccination.
Read more: As an autism researcher, I have dealt with antivax misinformation for years. See how we can fight it during the launch of the COVID vaccine
The county medical officer, Dr. Jeff Sloyer, refuted Payer’s misinformation at the next meeting.
“Both vaccines have been well studied,” he said, according to Topeka’s 13 News.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment shared a statement with 13 News on the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
“The data demonstrates that the known and potential benefits of this vaccine outweigh the known and potential harm of becoming infected with COVID-19,” said the department.
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