It’s a symptom of how screwed up our system is that nursing homes probably profit from killing off their customers. Nursing home care is so expensive that most residents go through their entire savings in the first year or two, after which there’s no more blood left to be squeezed out of that rock. So if, after that point, the residents die, they can be replaced by new ones who can pay (at least for a while).
The healthcare workers I’ve heard objecting are claiming the EUA (emergency use authorization) makes this vaccine situation unique.
I disagree, just saying.
I suspect it’s to give them legal cover when they do eventually fire them.
The courts take sincerely held religious beliefs very seriously.
But having them apply for an exception rather than automatically granting them adds that extra hurdle and probably requires they provide some kind of evidence. Since this is the US, these are mostly Christians we’re talking about, and there are very few denominations that are going to have specific rules about vaccinations.
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.
A hospital near me has publicly announced that they will require vaccination as soon as there is an FDA approved vaccine.
And if the resident does outlive her/his savings, she/he goes on Medicaid, which pays less than the ‘retail’ price of nursing home care. And that’s a losing proposition for the nursing home.
In many places yes. I talked with my sister the hospice director last night. Apparently there is some issue in making the covid vaccine mandatory because it’s not fully FDA approved, it’s under an emergency use authorization. As soon as it is officially fully approved, though, her facility is going ahead with making it a requirement.
It’s just a bizarre objection at this point. Each vaccine has been field tested on at least tens of millions of people at this point.
Yes, there will be some edge cases that produce some issues, some of them bad, and the full approval is going to have to account for that in the documentation, but it’s pretty clear FDA approval is more a matter of time than anything else.
Some random points from my 122 bed hosp in central California.
Annual flu shots or wear a mask have been mandatory for years.
Current job board has 18 RN positions, 7 with sign-on bonuses of 20-30K $
The ‘needs list’ for just the ED schedule has ~70 available shifts for RNs, just for August.
One of the best nurses we have has stated they’ll take early retirement over getting the vaccine, their reasons are nothing we haven’t heard before.
In 2019, the BC Nurses union fought successfully to have the policy of mandatory flu shots thrown out. They’re also not obligated to wear a mask, even when they are sick.
The right to spread disease, sicken and kill patients was fought for by the Nurse’s union, who called the previous policy (vaccinate or mask) a “contentious issue”, and a “punitive policy”
This helps explain why so many older folks in care homes caught covid and died.
Thank you BC Nurses Union. I suggest you change your slogan from “Standing up for Health Care” to “Screw You patients, I’ve Got My Freedom!”
This is an issue everywhere in Canada. Some nurses argue they are exposed to many flu bugs, getting the flu is not usually terrible or that the flu shot is a guess of a few more dangerous strains that may or may not be locally relevant. Sometimes it is not. Side effects are usually minimal but often loudly exaggerated by those who don’t get the flu shot.
I think these arguments are pretty weak. True, a few have documented allergies or reactions. In general one should have to consent to any medical intervention.
But these arguments seem far weaker when applied to Covid. I am not convinced the same legal precedents should or do apply. After all, the chance of catching Covid is real, it can clearly cause long term morbidity and rapid mortally, the public generally expects it and the medical arguments against it are usually weak and political. Everybody is sick of Covid. But that is only more reason to do the responsible thing. Make refusers pay for their own daily tests, perhaps?
I’d rather be cared for by one of the average nurses you have who fears killing a patient if they went unvaccinated.
Ditto. And that nurse may be good in all sorts of ways, but if she’s anti-vaxx, she’s not good enough. Someone who feels that strongly against the vaccine is not someone who believes in the scientific method and is apt to have all sorts of misgivings about medicine, and that’s bound to affect her work, whether colleagues recognize it or not.
Sadly, this is an oversimplification. Often the nurse you might most want looking after you has this odd belief. Unfortunately, it might be similar to not wanting care from a highly competent Trump supporter. I get it, but things are more complex than that.
What were the reasons?
In current news:
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, King County Executive Dow Constantine , Kaiser Permanente Regional President Susan Mullaney , WA Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah, WA Dept. of Health Deputy Director for COVID Response*Lacy Fehrenbach , and Seattle & King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin .
The Governor announced the immediate requirement for most state workers, and on-site contractors and volunteers , and workers in private health care and long-term care settings to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. This will include those that do business with the state of Washington to include if a contractor goes on a construction site or in state offices. Essentially all contractors that do work with the state will need to be fully vaccinated to do work with the state. He further noted that this is a legally binding emergency proclamation by the Governor of the State of Washington.
My wife is an RN who visits people in their homes. Many of her patients are referred by DSHS, for which she is a contractor. Of course she’s been vaccinated.
On the Nextdoor network, a neighbour shared a post by a nurse in Vancouver. The nurse is complaining that she is going to be fired soon because she refuses to be vaccinated.
As of August 31st, my job as a Registered Nurse at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center will be forcefully and involuntarily terminated. I WILL BE FIRED, for refusal to comply with their demands to get the COVID vaccine. The way in which I support my two children as a single mother, will be ripped from me.
She goes on and on about how last hear she was a HERO, and she lists many things she does and has been doing to care for people. But why doesn’t she want to be vaccinated? Is it because she fears long-term effects that haven’t materialised in millions of doses? Is it because she doesn’t think COVID is real? Is it because Bill Gates and George Soros will turn her thermostat against her? She doesn’t mention any of those. It’s all about ‘rights’. Yep, ‘FREEDOM!’
My favourite part is this bit [bolding mine]:
Last year I was a HERO. I know there are many jobs that have been considered essential during this pandemic…but HOW many of you actually understand what being truly essential means? As in, if you don’t go to work another human being could DIE. Me and my colleagues have been bearing the brunt of this pandemic from the start, since before they knew anything about this virus or it’s implications. We did not get to stay home or collect unemployment. We went to work everyday, and risked exposing ourselves and our families to COVID.
And if you don’t get vaccinated, then if you do go to work another human being could DIE. And if you and your family aren’t vaccinated, then you are risking exposing yourself and your family to illness or death.
She concludes:
Where there is risk, there must be CHOICE.
At the risk of losing her job, she has chosen not to be vaccinated. Listen up, Snowflake: With freedom comes responsibility. You made your choice, and now you have to face the consequences, about which you knew up front. Don’t whine over something that’s your own fault.
I just don’t understand why these people want the FREEDOM to infect other people with a deadly disease.
It makes as much sense as demanding the FREEDOM to drive drunk, or the FREEDOM to fire a weapon randomly into a crowd.
I do not get this either. Some people just get too much mileage out of going against the common sense grain.
Naw. The woman who cares for my mom has some odd beliefs, and I think she’s homophobic. But it’s not relevant to the job, and I’m happy to live with “don’t ask/don’t tell” with respect to her beliefs and politics. But I care that she’s vaccinated, and that she washes her hands, and generally that about stuff that might directly impact my mom’s care.
I’ve discussed it with 3 nurses I work with, it was freedom, freedom and side effects.
A teacher I know from working at a summer camp for kids with a stigmatizing disease played the holocaust card on FB, but took it down after being called out multiple times, SMH.
Freedom to infect, sicken and kill others. Because you don’t understand medicine.
From a nurse.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
I agree you should care for these things, as do I. I don’t understand why very knowledgeable health professionals sometimes have a blind spot here. A lot of doctors skew republican, and the percentage by specialty is interesting. Most surgeons and urologists do in the US. Being a republican means one is less likely to believe in vaccines. I agree it is strange to politicize health. But how else to explain it?