Connecticut takes the lead in vaccination rates, but senior care staffers need to get on board.
I just heard that my home state, Connecticut, is number one in the country with more than 50% of those eligible, 16 and over, having been vaccinated. In my town, we are now well over 70%, and I suspect will hit 80% or more by the end of May. This is what we need.
I have been fully vaccinated for over a month now, and it is quite a liberating feeling. Not that I was fearful about going anywhere pre-vaccination, but it does make you feel a little more empowered. And, I will be going to my first conference in late May. Can’t wait, although I could do without the plane ride.
So, obnoxious as I can sometimes be, but in a nice way, I have started asking strangers – store clerks, waiters, anyone I am talking with – whether they have been vaccinated or plan to. I am not threatening, and I really just want to know why not, if that is the case.
It is usually personal, such as I have made it this far so why bother, I have asthma, I don’t believe in vaccines, God will protect me. I never heard that they couldn’t take time off or that it was inconvenient. In most places, they have been making it convenient. And in my state, the Governor (whom I did not vote for) has done an admirable job.
But as an industry, we really have to focus on the line employees who have had multiple opportunities to get the vaccine, but have so far refused. Until the staff is as fully vaccinated as the residents they take care of, it may lead to problems that we just can’t afford. As we begin the recovery, that is certainly not the direction any of us want to go.
