Most health care workers seem to be onboard with the new coronavirus vaccine, but some are apprehesive about how quickly it was developed. | Gustavo Fring/Pexels
Most health care workers seem to be onboard with the new coronavirus vaccine, but some are apprehesive about how quickly it was developed. | Gustavo Fring/Pexels
The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were delivered across the country this past week.
Michigan expects to initially receive 84,000 doses of Pfizer's vaccine, which will be enough to inoculate about 42,000 people, at two doses per person. The more than 600,000 health care workers in the state are among the first in line to have the option to receive the vaccination.
These workers include hospital employees who've witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the virus. They've been treating patients who've contracted the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began back in March.
Still, there are mixed opinions among these health care workers on whether to receive the vaccine.
Jessica Romanowski works as a surgical technician at McLaren Flint Hospital. She told Bridge Michigan she goes "back and forth" about getting the vaccine, even after a nurse at her hospital passed away from the virus last month.
"Many of the staff are vocal about being onboard with signing up for it," Romanowski said, according to Bridge Michigan. "But many are also hesitant after reading all the posted side effects and whether or not the single dose or double dose would be available. It's a slippery slope wanting to protect yourself and be more capable of caring for your patients, but at what cost in the long run?"
She isn't the only one. A nurse, who asked to remain anonymous, at Henry Ford Health System said she would decline to take the vaccine because she doesn't trust how fast it was produced.
Katie Pontifex, a nurse at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, said she initially had those same worries. She and her husband did a "deep dive" on all the information available, and now she feels "much better about it." She even added she'd be one of the first to sign up to receive it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) polled health care workers back in September, showing that 63% would likely get a vaccine. A survey of nurses in October yielded that the same percentage were confident the vaccine would be safe and effective, but only 34% would "voluntarily" receive the inoculation.
Alerts Sign-up