TAMPA – The syringe contained only 3 milliliters of the precious coronavirus vaccine. With a steady hand, the nurse stabbed Stephen Quinones in the left hand.
An emergency room nurse at Adventhealth Tampa, Quinones deals daily with hospitalized patients with the virus. He has a wife and a 2-year-old son and he visits his parents regularly.
“When you’re a nurse and you come home every day covered in covid, you’re at risk. And when you get symptoms, you’re a big risk, “he said. “So I’m taking any steps to reduce the risk.”
His work on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus means that healthcare workers like Quinones are also on the front lines to get vaccinated. But many of them say they will pass for now.
Nearly half of Tampa general staff said in a recent survey that they want more information about the safety of their vaccine before they bring it. That’s the same story among 13,000 employees at the West Florida Department of Advertising and the Moffitt Cancer Center, where 411 percent of employees said they would cancel the vaccine initially.
“Many of my colleagues don’t want to get it until they try to get vaccinated,” Quinones said. “But some of us have to jump in and believe that the scientists behind this have our best interests at heart.”
That precaution is understandable, say public health experts. The fact that it took about 10 months to develop a new vaccine is unprecedented, which has fueled fears that long-term side effects are still unknown. Also, this vaccine is called so-called messenger RNA. Or the first to use mRNA technology.
And even though the vaccine has been deployed in tests with thousands of volunteers, it is expected that the injection being given this week is “the first.”
Still, there is concern that the participation rate among healthcare professionals is declining.
Only a percentage of their staff in hospitals and clinics will be vaccinated. And it could signal that health officials will face the difficult task of reassuring the general public that the vaccine is effective.
About 75% of the population in the United States will need to be vaccinated to return to “normalcy,” said Anthony Fawcett, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“If we don’t get higher vaccination rates, I’m worried that the epidemic will last longer than it needs to,” said Dr. A.S. Said Christopher Freeze. Who is also a practicing oncology nurse. “There’s nothing on the horizon that makes this better than vaccinations.”
As many as 300 adventure health workers, from doctors and respirators to security guards, received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday inside a large hospital tent on Bruce Bee Downs Boulevard. Doses provided by Tampa General are reserved for those most at risk because they are in contact with coronavirus patients.
AdventHealth plans to eventually vaccinate all of its employees, said Drs. Said Robin McGuinness. Since the vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration under the Emergency Use Authority, the company cannot order the vaccine as it does for the flu.
The company’s recent survey of employees’ attitudes toward new vaccines found the highest support among high-quality employees, including physicians and physician assistants. He said caution is high among employees such as nursing assistants and philebotomists.
McGinness said it is important for medical professionals to “determine tone and tone” for the community when vaccinations are delivered to the general public. It provides employees with information about the vaccine and its scientific review committee forwarded the assessment by the FDA.
“We knew there was a long way to go to get everyone vaccinated,” McGuinness said. “I think by the time it reaches the general population, there will be a lot of confidence in the vaccine.”
Moffitt surveyed about 7,000 employees about 10 days ago, with about 60 percent of respondents saying they wanted to be vaccinated, said Dr. Said Robert Keane, chief medical officer.
He said he told some that he did not want the vaccine, maybe there were others who needed it more, while others said they should wait and see if it was safe.
Bycare Health System officials said they were still pursuing employee opinion, but HCA Healthcare employees had a high level of support for the vaccine, with 78 percent saying they were ready to be vaccinated.
“I certainly hope that most of our caregivers are moving in the direction of getting out of this crisis by getting themselves vaccinated,” said Dr. Said Larry Feynman. “We encourage them like crazy. We want them to get this for their own protection. “
The level of caution among people in the medical field, said Dr. A.S. Kenzi Cameron is not surprised.
He said the epidemic has made uncertainty a part of daily life, a mentality that makes people less inclined and comfortable in making important decisions.
“If you don’t 100 percent recognize what your protection will do, what’s left with you is trying to manage your fears,” he said. “We know what will happen without vaccinations; We live it, and it’s not going well. “
Cameron said public health messages cannot negate people’s concerns. He said he needs to be reminded that the federal government’s approval process, while expedited, has not gone beyond decisive steps. And the rapid development of vaccines is the result of unprecedented collaboration and information sharing between governments and pharmaceutical companies around the world.
“It sounds fast, but it makes sense that it’s too fast,” he said. “We have all hands on deck.”
As a hematologist who works with cancer patients, Tim Kubal is used to review safety data. Speaking shortly after receiving the vaccine on Wednesday, he said he was satisfied that the data showed it was safe.
That trust is shared with work colleagues who are more hesitant. When they can understand him waiting a few weeks, he said, no one should be vaccinated for six months or more.
He said, “We all want this to go away, and we do it this way.” “Everything will feel safe, and you can see your family and friends safely, and that’s important.”
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