New Delhi: Even though India has approved the emergency use of Covishield from the Serum Institute and Covaxin (Covaxin) from Bharat Biotech, a report from the United States says that a surprisingly high percentage of healthcare professionals and frontline workers across the country, who have prioritized receipts for the coronavirus vaccine as soon as they doubt or flatly refuse to take it.
A Forbes report citing a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 29% of healthcare workers were hesitant to receive the vaccine, citing concerns related to possible side effects and a lack of faith in the government to ensure that the vaccines were safe.
Frontline workers in the United States are disproportionately black and Hispanic, the report said, adding that the pandemic has taken a “huge toll” on this segment of the population, which has reportedly accounted for about 65% of deaths in cases in which there is data on race and ethnicity.
A study published by The Lancet over the summer reportedly found that “healthcare workers of color were more than twice as likely as their white counterparts” to test positive for the coronavirus.
According to a Pew Research Center poll released in December, skepticism about vaccines is highest among African-Americans, with fewer than 43% saying they would definitely / likely receive a Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr. Juvvadi told NPR that “there is no transparency between drug companies or research companies, or the government at times, about how many people from the Black and Latino communities participated in the vaccine research.
Dr. Varon said that “the fact that [President] Trump is in charge of accelerating the process that annoys “those individuals who refuse to be vaccinated, adding that” everyone thinks that it is destined to harm specific sectors of the population.
Citing an opinion piece published in the New York Times earlier this week, the Forbes report said that emergency physicians Benjamin Thomas and Monique Smith wrote that “vaccine reluctance is a direct consequence of the mistreatment of the medical system to blacks “and past atrocities.
The key facts given by the Forbes report are:
1. Earlier this week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he was “concerned” about the relatively low number of nursing home workers who have chosen to get vaccinated, and DeWine said that approximately 60% of nursing homes refused the vaccine.
2. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of intensive care at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, told NPR in December that more than half of the nurses in his unit told him they would not receive the vaccine.
3. About 55 percent of New York Fire Department firefighters surveyed said they would not receive the coronavirus vaccine, the president of the Firefighters Association said last month.
4. He also cited the Los Angeles Times report on Thursday that said the hospital and public officials in Riverside, California, have been forced to determine the best way to allocate unused doses after approximately 50% of the county frontline workers rejected the vaccine.
5. Less than half of the hospital workers at St Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, California, were willing to get vaccinated, and about 20% to 40% of front-line workers in Los Angeles County have refused. the opportunity to get vaccinated, according to the report. additional.
The Central Organization for Standard Control of Medicines (CDSCO) under the Directorate General of Health Services has so far approved two COVID-19 vaccines, including the indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, which has been called Covaxin, and another manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), Covishield.
In particular, several states have conducted dry trials in preparation for the mass inoculation campaign on Saturday.
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