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"Somebody Like Me": Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Staff in Skilled Nursing Facilities.
Harrison, Jill; Berry, Sarah; Mor, Vince; Gifford, David.
  • Harrison J; Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: jill_s_harrison@brown.edu.
  • Berry S; Hebrew SeniorLife, Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
  • Mor V; Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
  • Gifford D; Center for Health Policy Evaluation in Long-Term Care, American Health Care Association, Washington, DC, USA.
J Am Med Dir Assoc ; 22(6): 1133-1137, 2021 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1141947
ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:

The vaccination of skilled nursing facility (SNF) staff is a critical component in the battle against COVID-19. Together, residents and staff constitute the single most vulnerable population in the pandemic. The health of these workers is completely entangled with the health of those they care for. Vaccination of SNF staff is key to increasing uptake of the vaccine, reducing health disparities, and reopening SNFs to visitors. Yet, as the vaccine rollout begins, some SNF staff are declining to be vaccinated. The purpose of this article is to describe reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy reported by staff of skilled nursing facilities and understand factors that could potentially reduce hesitancy.

DESIGN:

Five virtual focus groups were conducted with staff of SNFs as part of a larger project to improve vaccine uptake. SETTING AND

PARTICIPANTS:

Focus groups with 58 staff members were conducted virtually using Zoom.

MEASURES:

Focus groups sought to elicit concerns, perspectives, and experiences related to COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

RESULTS:

Our findings indicate that some SNF staff are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Reasons for this hesitancy include beliefs that the vaccine has been developed too fast and without sufficient testing; personal fears about pre-existing medical conditions, and more general distrust of the government. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS SNF staff indicate that seeing people like themselves receive the vaccination is more important than seeing public figures. We discuss the vaccination effort as a social enterprise and the need to develop long-term care provider-academic-community partnerships in response to COVID-19 and in expectation of future pandemics.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Skilled Nursing Facilities / Health Personnel / Vaccination Refusal / COVID-19 Vaccines / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Vaccines Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc Journal subject: History of Medicine / Medicine Year: 2021 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Skilled Nursing Facilities / Health Personnel / Vaccination Refusal / COVID-19 Vaccines / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Vaccines Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc Journal subject: History of Medicine / Medicine Year: 2021 Document Type: Article