More than fifty associations of health professionals, representing millions of workers, launched an urgent request this Monday for vaccination to be mandatory in this group, for the good of their patients and to strengthen recovery from the pandemic of COVID-19.
"Due to the recent rise in COVID-19 and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our healthcare organizations and societies advocate that
all medical and long-term care employers require that their workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "they
wrote in a joint statement.
[Follow our coverage of the coronavirus pandemic]
Among those who sign are the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), the National Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatricians, among more than 50 organizations.
"It is
the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health workers to put patients first,
as well as residents of long-term care centers, and take all necessary measures to guarantee their health and well-being", they say in the letter.
A good number of Latinos in the US flatly refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19
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Due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant, as there are still significant numbers of unvaccinated people, new
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing once again
across the United States.
The letter assures that vaccination is the main way to overcome the pandemic and avoid the return of strict measures such as quarantines and confinements.
Only 49% of the population has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and many health workers remain unimmunized despite having had priority access to vaccines since they are available in December.
[Vaccines protect against the dangerous delta variant of COVID-19. But it takes both doses]
More than 38% of nursing home staff were not fully vaccinated as of July 11, despite caring for patients at high risk of contracting the virus, reports The Washington Post according to data compiled by the Centers for Medicare Services and Medicaid and reviewed by LeadingAge, which represents elderly care providers.
An analysis by WebMD and Medscape Medical News estimated that about 25% of hospital workers who had contact with patients had not been vaccinated, according to figures from the end of May.
Registered nurse Sheba Phillip prepares a syringe with a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination event outside the Bronx Writing Academy in the Bronx, New York, June 4, 2021. Mike Segar / Reuters
The joint statement indicates that requiring health workers to be vaccinated
"is especially necessary to protect vulnerable people, including unvaccinated children and the immunosuppressed."
The signatories acknowledge that “some workers cannot be vaccinated for identified medical reasons and should be exempt from a mandate”, but add that “they constitute a small minority of all workers”.
Starts in New York
New York City announced Monday that it will require all of its city workers to be vaccinated or take weekly COVID-19 tests beginning in mid-September.
The mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced this measure last week for health workers, but has now extended it to other city employees due to the increase in infections from the delta variant.
The number of vaccines given daily in the city has dropped to less than 18,000, from a peak of more than 100,000 in early April, The Associated Press news agency reported.
About 65% of the city's adults are fully vaccinated.
With information from The Washington Post and NBC News.
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