Older Adults and Vaccinations - How Are We Doing?
My segment on Charlotte Today
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As of mid-February, about 14% of the US population received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Among adults 65 and older, the vaccination rate is about 41%. People over 65 account for more than half (54%) of all people who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose to date. As of 2/23, NC shows 49% of 65+ having one dose.
The real worry to me is healthcare workers and essential workers, particularly long-term care. 33 percent of essential workers and 29 percent of those who work in a health care delivery setting indicated that they would not get the vaccine. That sends the wrong example. If you’re not getting it, why should I?
You cannot completely open up our assisted living and nursing homes if those who work in them do not get vaccinated and then of course those who visit, family caregivers have to be accounted for as well. Check out the segment.
Unfortunately quite many of your Healthcare workers are African American. Many do not trust the CDC or the government because they used black people for trials for the syphilis vaccine. They actually gave them the awful disease to see if the vaccine worked without their knowledge. Having something like that done, no matter how long ago it was, would cause them to shrink back. Now they want them to trust them again.
Another reason is spiritually, depending on your faith. We've seen people in full PPE that died and people who did not follow the CDC's recommendation and lived. It's a hard call. The CDC was All over the place with regards to how the Pandemic should be treated and still they have conflicting and confusing statements on how the vaccine works. Who can gather. who can't!!!