Out of everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, you might think medical professionals would be first in line.
Recent data reveals otherwise.
One in four hospital workers who have regular contact with patients have not received a single dose of a vaccine, according to a WebMD and Medscape Medical News analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Data collected in 2,500 hospitals nationwide.
Robin Mejia, Director of the Statistics and Human Rights Program and Special Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, is leading a similar study of 1.9 million Facebook users surveyed on their vaccine hesitancy.
She told KCBS Radio on Tuesday that licensed practical or vocational nurses and emergency medical technicians were more hesitant than registered nurses and nurse practitioners to get vaccinated.
So were medical assistants, home healthcare aids and nursing assistants, all of whom work in professions with high-patient contact.
"The occupations that tracked with higher education were more likely to get a vaccination, and that's certainly what's been shown in studies is that vaccination tracked with education level," Mejia said.
About half of all those polled in the survey data Mejia examined were concerned about side effects, while around 35% of healthcare practitioners said they didn’t trust the COVID-19 vaccines yet. Over 40% of those who were hesitant said they'd wait to see if the vaccines were safe and might get it later.
"Not everyone understands that while the vaccines are brand new and were developed quickly, mRNA technology has been in development for 20 years," Mejia said.
Mejia said community programs are a great way to address people's concerns and teach them about the vaccines, how they were studied, what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s emergency authorization meant and what the safety data looked like.
In terms of encouraging people to get vaccinated, Mejia emphasized "listening, understanding and addressing" where people are coming from is important.
