Some front-liners decline vaccine
Health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic are first in line for the vaccine, but some are refusing to roll up their sleeves — a trend experts worry is sending a bad message.
“I believe actions speak louder than words,” said Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health. “We have to all stand up and say, ‘I take my vaccine not just to protect me in the health care system, but to protect you as well.’ “
This results in a “multiplier effect,” increasing the likelihood that people on the fence will get the shot, said Ellerin, who is awaiting his second dose.
Just 50% of the 12,252 health care workers at Bay State Health in Western Mass. offered vaccines have received them so far, President & CEO Mark Keroack said. Another 4,600 are scheduled to get their shots or haven’t responded.
Keroack said 1,474 have declined the COVID-19 vaccine outright, but the doctor estimated 60% of the declinations are of the “soft variety.”
Dr. Paul Biddinger, Chief of the Division of Emergency Preparedness at Mass. General Hospital and Medical Director for Mass. General Brigham, said there is no “way to quantify the number of people who are deferring vaccination” but
estimated about 75% of staff who were offered the vaccine have either scheduled appointments or received their first dose.
At Tufts Medical Center, roughly 3,500 of 4,000 staff dealing directly with COVID-19 patients have been immunized. But Dr. Saul Weingart, Chief Medical Officer, said they “don’t have a good sense yet of those who definitely declined” versus who is “cautious.”
Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer, who has gotten his first shot, said there’s a “very limited risk of transmission” when more than 80% of a hospital population gets vaccinated. Herd immunity is achieved if about 65% to 70% receive the vaccine.
State data does not yet track the vaccination rates among priority groups. A COVID-19 Command Center spokeswoman could not provide information on Tuesday about the number of people eligible who had declined the vaccine.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey revealed 29% of eligible health care workers nationwide are hesitant to get the vaccine.
First responders — next in line on the priority list — and essential workers, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, are
even less likely, with one-third saying they won’t take the vaccine.
Those populations have been harder hit by coronavirus than their white counterparts both in
Massachusetts and across the nation.
The concern with vaccination rates led some Massachusetts communities to consider mandates among first responders.