# Opinion on Vaccinations for Hospital Workers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-vaccinations-for-hospital-workers/947661>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [July 30, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-vaccinations-for-hospital-workers/947661 "2021-07-30T19:31:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 86

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-vaccinations-for-hospital-workers/947661/86 "2021-08-12T16:24:15Z")

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> [@Great\_Antibob](#):
>
> As you noted, here in the Houston area, the Methodist system publicly fired a handful of employees who refused. And good riddance, I say. And that’s in Texas no less.

I have mixed opinions on this. As you cited Houston Methodist, I wonder how short they are on nursing staff? It looks like they dropped [151 hospital workers](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/06/09/houston-methodist-hospital-workers-refuse-covid-vaccine-get-suspended/7616446002/), while giving some 600 employees exceptions (out of maybe 22,000 employees across eight hospitals).

On a purely utilitarian basis if the nursing shortage is too severe it may not be worth it to fire unvaccinated nurses; with proper PPE and regular testing the risk of an unvaccinated nurse spreading the disease may be less than the risk of a facility being unable to save a patient due to lack of staff. The fact that there are hundreds of staff exempt from the rule - more than those fired for noncompliance - indicates that the hospital is confident in their ability to provide care even when an employee is unvaccinated.

I will copy something from the breaking news thread,

> [@Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2089):
>
> [Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’ (yahoo.com)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-hospitals-already-overloaded-doctors-121726648.html)
> 
> > [T]he vast majority of patients hospitalized in Texas are not vaccinated…
> > 
> > To help manage the surge, Abbott appealed this week to health care workers outside the state to travel to Texas and help the overloaded hospitals.
> 
> Here’s an idea: Let unvaccinated health care workers (nurses, etc.) who refuse to take the vaccine care for the unvaccinated patients who refused to take the vaccine.

~Max

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