Senators are urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to fight back against COVID-19 vaccination misinformation to help ensure veterans have accurate information to make informed decisions about their health.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, along with 12 other lawmakers sent a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough this week, citing reports from veterans concerned about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
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"A recent poll by the Blue Star Families found that almost half of veteran families surveyed do not expect to receive a vaccine, with 75% of those families citing concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines," the senators wrote. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, false information related to the coronavirus has spread rapidly. In order to save lives, we urge you to continue to address vaccine hesitancy by increasing educational efforts amongst VA recipients about vaccine misinformation.”
The letter was also signed by Sens. Tina Smith, D-Montana; Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota; Tim Kaine, D-Virginia; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee; Dianne Feinstein, D-California; Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada; Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut; Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire; Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.
VA leaders have told lawmakers in recent weeks of efforts from the department beginning last year to help educate veterans about the vaccines to encourage vaccinations and combat misinformation or lack of trust in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
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McDonough told reporters during his first in-person press briefing Friday that the department has so far not seen as much hesitancy as it once expected, and many veterans VA was concerned might avoid the vaccine, including veterans of color, are accepting it at high rates. But vaccine supplies are still limited, and McDonough said as supplies increase, VA may see more hesitancy emerge among veterans as more people are offered the option.
"There's not hesitancy (among many veterans) and there needn't be hesitancy," McDonough said Friday. "We're now seeing 2 million veterans vaccinated with very little associated problems ... We have work to do on rural and highly rural veterans."
As of March 26, VA recorded more than 1.4 million veterans fully vaccinated, along with nearly 260,000 employees and more than 13,000 federal partners through the department's Fourth Mission. VA has provided at least one dose to nearly 4 million veterans, according to department data.
VA has also seen significant decreases in active cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, and the rate of patient and staff deaths has slowed considerably. As of March 26, VA recorded 3,680 patients and staff actively sick because of the virus, 11,219 total patient deaths and 136 staff deaths since the start of the pandemic, and fewer than 400 patients hospitalized because of the virus.
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Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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