Healthcare workers have been gradually coming around to COVID-19 vaccines, with one-third more people vaccinated since earlier in the year, but 27 percent of them are still unvaccinated, and 15 percent of the unvaccinated group are firmly opposed to immunizations. More healthcare employers may be pressured to mandate immunizations to stave off contagious Delta variant infections.
“The fact that 27 percent of staff in healthcare facilities are currently unvaccinated poses a significant risk to vulnerable patients, which will likely exacerbate outbreaks in healthcare settings,” according to the study from the Covid States Project, a collaborative effort by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers.
Long-term nursing facilities across the United States have responded to the Delta outbreak by mandating vaccines or even firing workers who don’t get their shots. In some places, staff have also resigned in protest of the requirement.
“The Delta variant is so contagious that you have outbreaks in healthcare facilities that are driven by non-vaccinated workers, but then spreads to vulnerable patients as well,” says David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer sciences at Northeastern, and one of the researchers who conducted the study.
