Frontline workers were top priority in the process of vaccinating the population against the widespread coronavirus infection. Both the residents of nursing homes and their caretakers were to be vaccinated first, the health authorities and governments had decided. And now date revealed shows that only 38% of these people accepted the vaccination. The vast majority of them refused the vaccine.
Frontline workers and low vaccination rate
The government and healthcare authorities had decided to first vaccinate the inmates of nursing homes and their caregivers. This was because they were at a high risk to contract the deadly infection and due to limitations of vaccine production. But now CDC has released data that reveals that only 38% of these took the vaccination. More than 60% have refused the vaccine.
Anecdotal reports were in that the acceptance rate of vaccination was low amongst the frontline workers. And now a concrete proof of it has come from the CDC. Less than 40% workers said yes to the vaccine. A member of the CDC’s Vaccine Task Force said:
"These findings show we have a lot of work to do to increase confidence and also really understand the barriers to vaccination amongst this population,"
Reason for the low vaccine acceptance
A polling data previously studied showed the reasons that people do not want to have the vaccine. The major reason was that the workers were worried about the potential side-effects of the vaccine. There were some who did not want to be the first to get vaccinated. They want to wait, see the results of the vaccine in the vaccinees, and then decide. Others revealed their non-trust on the government and some stated some false claims associated with the vaccine. These include the false report that it could affect fertility!
The other plausible reasons for the low vaccination rate was that some workers were off-duty when the vaccine was administered and some were working at two or more facilities but their name was included only in one medical facility where they took the vaccine.
More residents of nursing home took the vaccine
The nursing home residents were more likely to accept the vaccine. Between 18 December 2020 and 17 January 2021, 11000 long-term nursing home centers were studied. 78% of the residents took the vaccine.
The drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens along with Trump administration started the tieup. In this, the pharmacy would visit each nursing home three times. On fist two visits, maximum number of people would be vaccinated and the third visit would be for the remaining people. Also, it would be gor the second dose of the vaccine.
The vaccines are given free and private insurers and Medicaid and Medicare will bear the administration costs. Mike DeAngelis, senior director of corporate communications for CVS said:
"Generally speaking we are seeing a higher uptake by staff members on our second visits,"
Walgreens President John Standley stated:
“While vaccine hesitancy has been a challenge at some of these facilities, our pharmacists have played a critical role in providing education and information to help residents and staff understand the important role these vaccines will play in helping the nation emerge from this pandemic,”
People are gradually getting comfortable with the vaccine.
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