With Americans across the country resisting COVID-19 vaccine mandates put in place by their employers, many are wondering if staffing shortages will only get worse.
Dr. Michael Osterholm joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman to discuss this and what should be expected as more employers put mandates in place.
A recent report has come out that close to 150 health care workers are suing over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Minnesota.
"I think what we are seeing around the country, at least in terms of the health care system issues, is that it's a very, very small percentage of the overall health care workers who won't get vaccinated," he said.
Osterholm shared that from the information he has looked at, less than 1% of healthcare workers are deciding not to get the vaccine.
"I, for one, appreciate the fact that we all have our individual freedoms. We want our freedoms to decide," Osterholm said. "But if you make a career choice to be there for sick people, to help people improve their health, then you have an obligation not to present a risk to them where you could actually make the situation worse."
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For healthcare workers, Osterholm does not see any other option than getting the vaccine as he says healthcare workers have a responsibility to their patients to make sure they are taking care of them and not putting them at risk.
"I think the same thing is true with teachers, in particular, today where we have kids who can't be vaccinated," Osterholm said. "We've had numerous examples of teachers who have transmitted the virus once they've been infected to kids in their classroom."
When it comes to getting vaccinated, Osterholm says that it is about protecting the vulnerable.
"I hear people say all the time, 'this is Nazis' or this is whatever, but you don't hear people saying that when you get behind the wheel of a car and you're intoxicated," he added. "We have laws to take you off of that road if you are stopped, so you don't cause injuries to others."
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For those in the healthcare industry who are refusing the vaccine, Osterholm thinks they have "chosen the wrong profession."
"I know that's hard, but at the same time, people's lives depend on what's happening here," he added.
When it comes to questions around shortages of doctors and nurses quitting over the mandates, Osterholm wants to remind people that no group has been more supportive of the vaccine than medical professionals. That being said, he does not think there will be a shortage in his profession.
"Over 99% of the data we've seen so far show that doctors are vaccinated," he said. "There are those rare examples; we have some in our state who have been very public about being anti-vaccine."
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While there is a slightly larger percentage of nurses opposed to getting the shot, Osterholm said that most of those against the mandate are associated health professionals.
This includes radiology and pulmonary techs and station clerks, who get put in the overall numbers, skewing the data.
"Make no mistake about it, if over 99% of doctors in this country are vaccinated, what should that tell you about how important these vaccines are," Osterholm said.
With talks of booster shots leaving some in the country thinking that vaccines are not as effective as reported, Osterholm shared the sad fact on what the virus is doing to those against the vaccine.
"You know what's interesting, and I take no comfort in this at all," Osterholm said. "This is actually painful. The three of my most vocal critics over the past month, on Facebook and so forth, are all people who are now dead. All of them died from covid."
