Healthcare Hygiene magazine October 2021 October 2021 | Page 22

nonacute-care environments , additional mandates may have negative impacts on the ability to deliver care due to staffing shortages . While many healthcare providers have voluntarily become fully vaccinated already , there are those that for many different reasons refuse to become vaccinated . Many of these individuals who are not vaccinated may have successfully recovered from COVID-19 infection and the true value and longevity of natural immunity is not fully yet understood . All infection control strategies should be on the table , including the use of universal source control to reduce potential risks to patients .”
In his experience working with fellow clinicians , Garrett has seen firsthand the fall-out from the mandate .
“ I have heard very limited outright verbal support from frontline healthcare workers for mandatory vaccine , even from those that are vaccinated themselves on their own initiative ,” Garrett says . “ Most healthcare workers want to be given a choice about medication that is injected into their body , and the same is true for the patients that we serve . Healthcare providers have a professional and ethical responsibility to safeguard patients from preventable harm , but there is a fine line in what is required and what is truly necessary to mitigate risks to the patient . For example , how safe is it for a patient to be taken care of by an unvaccinated pregnant registered nurse if the nurse wears a surgical mask during her / his entire shift and is meticulous about basic infection control strategies such as hand hygiene ? These are key questions that we simply don ’ t have data points to prove or disprove , which leaves open questions about the true effectiveness of every intervention that we might consider trying .”
Garrett continues , “ While vaccinated persons are certainly less likely to develop COVID-19 infection , the incidence of breakthrough infections continues to rise . In addition , with new recommendations for booster vaccines that include an indication for healthcare workers , will the definition of ‘ fully vaccinated ’ change from two to three vaccines for the mRNA vaccines and one to two doses for the viral vector vaccine ? Most vaccinated healthcare providers simply received the vaccine voluntarily to try to avoid contracting the illness themselves due to the nature of their work and frequent patient contact . I see a fair amount of both vaccine hesitancy and confidence concerns in the healthcare population , and many of the concerns are legitimately regarding specific scenarios such as pregnant women or individuals with previous COVID-19 infection .”
How to balance the need to protect everyone without encroaching on civil liberties or alienating healthcare professionals , is at issue .
“ This is a really tough question as historically there are no government mandated vaccines for all healthcare workers that
Given that we are in an ongoing pandemic , the use of all infection control methods should be considered including vaccination , universal source control , disinfection , hand hygiene , etc ., however there must be a fair balance in the approach .”
exist ,” Garrett acknowledges . “ Given that we are in an ongoing pandemic , the use of all infection control methods should be considered including vaccination , universal source control , disinfection , hand hygiene , etc ., however there must be a fair balance in the approach . Especially with a new vaccine that has extremely limited long-term safety data available , it is only logical for potential vaccine recipients to have concerns and questions regarding both safety and efficacy .”
What many healthcare professionals are asking of their employers is the opportunity for their issues to be heard and acknowledged and their concerns addressed .
“ Many healthcare facilities are simply not set up or equipped to offer multiple choices as alternatives to vaccination , nor do they have adequately trained vaccination providers that can fully answer questions that patients and members of the healthcare provider team may have ,” Garrett says . “ The ability to access a local expert that can fully answer a patient ’ s questions regarding the three available vaccines is of paramount importance . We expect our patients to be fully briefed on the benefits and potential consequences of any medical treatment as part of the informed consent , and the use of a novel and lifesaving vaccine such as that for COVID-19 is no different and the same process should be followed .”
Since summer , when CoE-driven policies began to take effect in hospitals and healthcare systems , there have been numerous nurse-led demonstrations , walk-outs and resignations ; there are currently no official estimates on the number of healthcare personnel who have walked away from their employer over objections to being vaccinated by an experimental vaccine whose side effects , adverse events and potential long-term effects are only just beginning to be identified and understood through further studies being undertaken . Some nurses are waiting to be terminated when vaccine mandates are implemented rather than quit voluntarily , to be able to collect unemployment . Fierce Healthcare ( Muoio , 2021 ) is keeping count as more deadlines are reached and hospitals share their numbers . Approximately 1,200 healthcare professionals from their list have either been terminated , resigned , or were undecided as various vaccination deadlines loomed .
While three-quarters of Valley Health employees are vaccinated , some healthcare personnel told The Washington Post that they thought the risks from the vaccines are more than that of COVID-19 . As Flynn ( 2021 ) reports , “’ We are not ‘ anti-vax ,’” Brittany Watson , a behavioral health nurse at Winchester Medical Center told the Post . ‘ We ’ ve done all the vaccines that you get when you grow up , but those have been around for decades . But this one , there ’ s so much propaganda around it .’”
The first in the U . S . to take her objections to the courts , Jennifer
22 october 2021 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com