Week 61 Newsletter
06/01-06/07 Updates
Vaccine Information
Vaccine hesitancy continues among health care workers across the US, with some facilities having as few as half of their staff vaccinated. Employers are resorting to mandates to improve vaccination rates in order to reduce risk to patients and providers.
Vaccine Information
(06/03/21) First in Line, Still No Shot: Surprising Number of Hospital Workers Refuse Vaccines
A recent survey from USA Today covering some of the largest hospitals and hospital systems in the United States found employee vaccination rates as low as 51% and as high as 91%. The lower-than-desired vaccination rates have public health officials worried, as health care workers can be an example for the population at large.
(06/01/21) Texas Hospital Workers Sue Over Vaccine Mandates
This article reports a lawsuit case of a group of 117 workers against the Houston Methodist Health System’s policy that mandates the COVID-19 vaccination. The workers claim that the policy deprive their rights to protect themselves from vaccine side effects, while the center explains that the policy is for protecting its patients and workers.
Long-term Care
Low vaccination rates among workers in long-term care facilities is contributing to continued outbreaks of COVID-19, infecting both staff and patients. While long-term care facilities were prioritized early for vaccination, the constant influx of new, unvaccinated patients continues to pose a risk with many unvaccinated staff.
Long-term Care
(06/01/21) Despite Vaccines, Nursing Homes Still Struggle With COVID Outbreaks, Deaths
This NBC News article covers the impact of vaccine hesitancy on nursing homes, where unvaccinated staff are being blamed for outbreaks of COVID-19 that force shutdowns of facilities and contribute to deaths and illness among staff and patients. Although nursing homes were an early and important focus for vaccination, the constant inflow of new patients means these facilities remain high risk.
Health Workforce Safety
A coalition of health care system CEOs has pledged to promote safer working environments, emphasizing emotional and psychological safety, health justice, and physical safety for their employees.
Health Workforce Safety
(06/02/21) CEO Coalition Readies to Take Action to Support Hospital Staff
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges and exacerbated existing issues in maintaining workforce safety in hospital systems. In an attempt to address these challenges, CEOs from 10 prominent hospital systems in the United States have announced the CEO Coalition’s Declaration of Principles to promote safer working environments, including emphasis on emotional and psychological safety, health justice, and physical safety of employees.
State Workforce Strategies
Recent studies on the effectiveness of COVID-19 contact tracing by state and territorial governments identify what factors led to suboptimal containment of the spread of COVID-19.
California’s legislature is considering a bill to mandate employers to pay health care workers bonuses for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Workforce Strategies
(06/03/21) COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing in the US, 2020
A new study published in JAMA investigates COVID-19 contact tracing in the United States between June and October of 2020. The primary conclusions were that contact tracing was suboptimal in preventing COVID-19 transmission due to just one-third of positive cases being contacted and even fewer naming contacts.
(06/03/21) Why Contact Tracing Couldn’t Keep Up With the US COVID Outbreak
Surveys from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security were conducted five times to measure the contact tracing workforce of state and territorial health departments in the United States over the course of the pandemic. These surveys found that while the contact tracing workforce peaked in the US in December 2020, the US was never capable of keeping up with the need for contact tracing to make it most effective.
(06/02/21) California Bill Would Give Healthcare Workers COVID Bonuses
A new bill under consideration in California would require hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities to pay medical workers $10,000 bonuses for working during the COVID-19 pandemic. While private facilities and their advocacy groups are concerned about the cost of such action, the bill seeks to address burnout in workers and both California and the federal government may offer funds to pay substantial portions.
