Week 59 Newsletter

(05/21/21) Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Among Health Care Personnel — 33 US Sites, January-March 2021
Newly published data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report finds the currently authorized mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 are highly effective in preventing symptomatic illness among health care providers. The study observed health care workers at 33 sites in 25 states.

(05/21/21) More Hospitals Require Health Care Workers to Get COVID Vaccine
This article from Axios covers news that large health care systems in multiple states have announced mandates for employees to vaccinate for COVID-19. Surveys of health care workers have found this to be a polarizing issue among workers, with nearly 60% saying they would support their workplace mandating the vaccine.

(05/21/21) Pandemic Has Made Shortage of Health Care Workers Even Worse, Say Experts
An article from ABC News looking at the current COVID-19 pandemic-related shortages in the health workforce, exacerbated by individuals leaving the workforce through retirement or seeking better job opportunities. High turnover due to low pay in nursing and long-term care as well as pandemic-related burnout and fatigue continue to disrupt the health workforce supply.

(05/21/21) The Health Care Worker Squeeze
This article from Axios looks at the issue of health care workforce shortages, an issue that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic and has been exacerbated by it, according to the Michael Dill, the director of workforce studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

(05/17/21) Women in Healthcare Are at a Breaking Point—and They’re Leaving
This article featured in Modern Healthcare highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted women in the health workforce. Women in the health workforce lost the most jobs in the pandemic, and have not yet recovered from the steepest losses in April 2020.

(05/24/21) COVID-19 Infection Rate Among Dentists Remains Lower Than Other Health Professionals
A new study released by the American Dental Association finds that the rate of COVID-19 infection among dentists is lower than that of other health care professionals, and has consistently been lower throughout the pandemic. High rates of pre-appointment screening and enhanced safety procedures are credited with protecting dentists.

(05/24/21) Give Clinicians Time to Recover from the Pandemic
This article, published in the Personnel Policies section of the Harvard Business Review, advocates for an automatic policy to give clinicians working through the COVID-19 pandemic an opportunity to experience a recovery period, which could include the likes of temporary leaves of absence, relaxing workflow, reducing hours, role changes, or other changes meant to give clinicians a chance to heal some trauma.

(05/21/21) These Asian American Health Care Workers Are Fighting 2 Viruses: COVID and Hate
This article from CNN asks Asian American health care workers to discuss their experiences working through both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the rise in targeted harassment and violence many Asian Americans are experiencing as a result of the pandemic.

(05/20/21) New State Law Requirements for Health Care Worker Protections During A Declared State of Emergency
This memo from the Washington State Hospital Association highlights the requirements put into law for health workforce protections as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the declared state of emergency to deal with it.