As COVID-19 vaccine availability appears closer on the horizon, U.S. health systems are launching efforts to quell fears of healthcare workers who may have concerns about being inoculated, according to The Washington Post.
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NPR Nov. 17 that healthcare workers could soon be among the first group to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as December.
But some workers have expressed hesitancy. For example, a survey released in October by the American Nurses Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association, found 34 percent of association members would voluntarily vaccinate themselves, and 36 percent said they would not. Thirty-one percent were unsure.
"We are vaccines' greatest champions, but this is the first time that a new vaccine has been developed at a rapid pace in the middle of a pandemic, as opposed to a much longer timeline," Susan Bailey, MD, an allergist/immunologist from Fort Worth, Texas, and president of the American Medical Association, told the Post in an interview, adding that it's important pharma companies publish full trial results as soon as possible to get physicians' approval.
To help assure healthcare workers, Mass General Brigham health system in Boston is launching educational videos to persuade medical staff that the development process for COVID-19 vaccines will result in inoculations that are safe and effective, according to the Post. And Bernard Camins, MD, an infectious disease physician at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, said he will likely distribute photos of himself getting a shot to healthcare workers to help alleviate concerns, the newspaper reported.
Read the full article here.
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