By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
Many employees at New York nursing homes are refusing to vaccinate against COVID-19. Some city nursing homes have over 60 percent of staffers still not vaccinated, according to state data.
As reported by the NY Post, the vaccination rates for staffers at those facilities significantly lag behind the vaccination rate for vulnerable residents. This is angering some advocates who warn that the personal decision of these staffers could bring negative consequences to the nursing home residents. It could also delay the home’s ability to open back up for visits from loved ones into the homes, advocates argue. “If staffers choose not to get the vaccine, they should find another line of work,” said Vivian Zayas, founder of Voices for Seniors, whose mom, Ana Martinez, died last year after contracting COVID-19 at a Long Island nursing home. “If they want to work in a nursing home, they should get the vaccine.”
As of Sunday, merely 58 percent of workers in the 611 nursing homes in New York State had been partially or fully vaccinated. By contrast, 84 percent of residents at the homes were vaccinated, as per State Health Department data reviewed by The Post. In the five boroughs of NYC, the 167 nursing homes have just 57 percent of staffers vaccinated, also well below the 78 percent of residents vaccinated.
Of all the boroughs, Brooklyn had the lowest vaccination rates among nursing home staffers, with just 47 percent willing to get the shot, in comparison to 71 percent of residents who are inoculated. Furthermore, at some 20 city facilities, a mere 40 percent or less of staffers had been vaccinated.
Advocates worry that the low rate of staffer vaccinations will cause problems for nursing home residents. Nursing facilities could be fully or partially closed to family and visitors if even one person there tests positive for COVID-19. “The issue is the lack of preparation and education leading up to the announcement of the vaccines,” said Richard Mollot, executive director of the NY Long Term Care Community Coalition. He said the local and federal government should have done more to encourage and educating staff and residents about the benefits of getting vaccinated. “We need to have meaningful enforcement in order, coming from the state to the facility and from the CMS to the state… If your staff members are vaccinated at a higher rate, then you would have some level of herd immunity in a facility. How do you get to that rate? It requires people getting the vaccine,” Mollot added.
