Despite being prioritized as the first recipient of the coronavirus vaccine, a large number of health and frontline professionals are passing on the vaccine. The first reports from around the country show that health and frontline professionals refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In Ohio, 60% of health care workers decided not to get the coronavirus vaccine. Last week, Governor Mike DeWine (R) reacted to the low participation numbers by saying, “We are not going to do them, but we would like them to have a greater membership.” He added that he was “concerned” about the number of health care workers who rejected the vaccine.
DeWine warned the frontline workers that they would soon be out of line, “Our message today is: The train may take a while. We will make it available to everyone eventually, but this is the opportunity for you, and you you really should think about getting it. ”
Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at the 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 – not a fight, but I had a friendly discussion with over 50% of my nurses in my unit telling me that they were not going to get the vaccine,” he said
NPR’s “Morning Edition”.
“Some of these nurses had relatives admitted to the hospital, seriously ill with COVID-19,” reported the NPR. “But he said that some nurses and hospital staff – many of whom are Latinx or Black – are skeptical that it will work and are concerned about unfounded side effects.”
In California, an estimated 50% of frontline workers in Riverside County rejected the COVID-19 vaccine, Director of Public Health Kim Saruwatari told the Los Angeles Times.
“At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, less than half of the 700 hospital employees eligible for the vaccine were willing to get the vaccine when it was first offered. At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, one in each five frontline nurses and doctors refused the injection, “reported the LA Times. “Approximately 20% to 40% of LA county frontline employees who received the vaccine did the same, according to county public health officials.”
Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi, the clinical director of the Loretto Hospital in Chicago, interviewed the hospital staff shortly before the coronavirus vaccine was launched and 40% of employees said they would not be vaccinated, according to the NPR.
In a survey in early December with members of the New York Fire Department, approximately 55% of uniformed firefighters said they would choose not to be shot, according to WNBC-TV.
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation published on Dec. 15 found that 29% of people working in a healthcare setting would probably not or would definitely not receive the injection. The survey also found that 33% of essential workers would be approved. Overall, 27% of Americans are “hesitant about the vaccine”.
There is a big divide between Americans who want to be vaccinated, depending on their political affiliation. According to the poll, 86% of Democrats say they will definitely or probably get the coronavirus vaccine, compared with 56% of Republicans who said the same.
According to KFF, the main concerns about the reluctance to receive the coronavirus vaccine are:
- Possible side effects (59%)
- Lack of confidence in the government to guarantee the safety and efficacy of vaccines (55%)
- Concerns that the vaccine is too new (53%)
- Concerns about the role of politics in the development process (51%)
Sheena Bumpas, a certified nursing assistant in an Oklahoma home, 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, refused to get the vaccine because she fears it will be unsafe for pregnant women, and she is six months pregnant.
“I’m choosing the risk – the risk of having COVID, or the risk of the vaccine unknown,” Lu told the Los Angeles Times. “I think I’m choosing the COVID risk. I can control that and avoid it a little bit by wearing masks, although not 100% for sure.”
Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci noted that vaccines against coronavirus could become mandatory for attending school or traveling abroad.