Half of Iowa care facility workers refuse vaccination, creating a stockpile of unused vaccine

[progressoid]

With half the state’s nursing home workers having refused the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to say Wednesday whether employees at state-run care facilities should be required to get the vaccine.

The head of the Iowa Department of Public Health said she wants to make sure state workers caring for elderly and disabled individuals are “comfortable” with the vaccine and capable of making “the decisions that are best for them.”

...

Many of the workers at Iowa’s state-run facilities are caring for elderly individuals and people with underlying health conditions for whom the coronavirus is particularly dangerous. According to state and federal data, 42% of the Iowans who have died of coronavirus were residents of care facilities.

At a press conference Wednesday, Reynolds said that about 50% of the workers in all of the state’s long-term care facilities, the vast majority of which are privately run, refused the vaccine during the initial roll-out this month. Some who previously refused now say they plan to get the vaccine in the weeks ahead.

Asked whether the state should make vaccination a condition of employment for working in a state-run health care facility, Reynolds referred the question to Kelly Garcia, director of both the Iowa Department of Human Services and Iowa Department of Public Health.

more...https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/01/27/half-of-iowa-care-facility-workers-refuse-vaccination-creating-a-stockpile-of-unused-vaccine/?fbclid=IwAR2k5vwD_eCersz4Ni9liJ116RoFn0JxvBTZg9hOv6gPsGQ4A3gNjFYFohM

[Best_man23]

1. Put a call out,

Give them to anyone who wants them, don't let them go unused.

[Claire Oh Nette]

2. resignations?

Will they hand in their resignation, too?

No, they don't have to get vaccinated, but their job requires it. If they want to keep that job, they should have to get vaccinated. hey work with the elderly, ffs. They should move to the very bottom of the list, too. If they do get COVID, no care.


This anti-vaxx bs has gone way too far.

[SoCalNative]

3. Exactly

ANY job in healthcare that is public facing, especially with access to vulnerable populations, should be required to have ALL vaccines and boosters or lose your job.

[dutch777]

4. I would prefer HC workers all get vaccinated...but I will happily move up in the queue

It should just be clear that people who are eligible and decline the vaccine, go to the very end of the line. When the more virulent and possible deadly variants hit, they don't get priority any more.

[IADEMO2004]

5. Whole state is asshole deep in farm chemicals and they are worried about a shot?