Fresno County health-care workers must lead as role models in getting COVID vaccines
It was disappointing to learn that only half of Fresno County’s 58,000 health-care workers have signed up to get COVID-19 vaccines.
The reason, according to Joe Prado, the county’s community health division manager, is that many of those workers want to see how others react to the vaccines before getting the shots themselves.
They aren’t alone. Sheriff’s deputies in San Joaquin County, as well as health workers there, are also waiting to get vaccinated, Sheriff Pat Withrow told the Board of Supervisors.
Fear of the unknown is a natural human response. But in this instance, it is most unhelpful. If anyone needs to be a role model for getting vaccinated, it is the front-line health workers we depend on right now for care.
Given ongoing skepticism some people show toward wearing face masks, getting the public inoculated may prove even harder, especially given the loud protests of anti-vaccine activists. For anyone in health care, this should be a no-brainer.
Vaccine rollout
Under the Fresno County’s schedule, workers at hospitals, skilled nursing and assisted-living facilities are eligible to be vaccinated now. So are emergency medical technicians and paramedics, dialysis centers, primary care clinics, and long-term care facilities.
An organized rollout is critical, so when a person delays getting his or her vaccination, that person will have to then fall into a later group.
Prado does not think that will be a problem, per se. He actually expects it, as it becomes clear to most the shots are safe. “We will see a lot of people all at once decide ‘I want to get vaccinated,’” Prado said.
Get the shots
As to the safety of the vaccinations, Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that the vaccines are good to go and should be taken.
“So far, none of the vaccine trials have reported any serious safety concerns,” say Drs. Lisa Lockerd Maragakis and Gabor David Kelen.
They say that while the vaccines were developed quicker than most, the process was helped by robust funding by the federal government, a willing supply of volunteers to take the trial drugs, and careful testing.
In addition, the vaccine for COVID developed by one of the consortiums, Pfizer-BioNTech, was already years in development for other infectious diseases. So manufacturing could begin faster.
Getting vaccinated will lead toward overall immunity to COVID for the county, which is critical. Fresno County is one of the hardest hit parts of California right now. As of Thursday, the county had tallied 77,651 cases and 846 deaths. Over 600 people were hospitalized, and the county had 0% capacity in hospital intensive-care units.
Please, health care workers, sign up for the vaccines and get the shots. All residents, especially those from communities of color, need to see your leadership. Otherwise, the pandemic will continue to run rampant through Fresno County, and the end of this horrific experience will be further down the road than anyone wishes.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 10:13 AM.