Vaccination effort could run into challenges with nursing home staff

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — As Rhode Island nursing homes receive their first doses of the vaccine this week, how many residents and staff are actually planning to get vaccinated?

Scott Fraser is the CEO of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, which represents most of the state’s nursing homes.

He says based on states where the vaccine has already been rolled out, 80 to 95 percent of nursing home residents plan to get vaccinated — but only about half of nursing home staff plan to do the same.

“Our homes have been encouraging staff to get the vaccination to protect themselves and protect the residents,” Fraser said. “I don’t know what the outcome is going to be in Rhode Island, but certainly every one of our members has been working to educate every one of their staff and encourage them to get the vaccination.”

But he says there are no plans to make it mandatory for staff.

“It’s personal choice,” Fraser said. “This is not something we can force upon someone, but again, our members are doing all they can to educate staff and residents and encourage them and their family members to protect themselves and their loved ones by getting the vaccine.”

That’s why the health department plays a significant role in encouraging that effort.

RIDOH says some hesitation stems from the fact that the vaccine was developed so quickly.

“No steps in the safety review process were skipped,” said RIDOH spokesman Joseph Wendelken. “In fact, in the clinical trials they actually had more people than they typically do in clinical trials.”

He says they’ve also conducted focus groups, where concerns have been raised among some people of color based on historical skepticism of vaccines in their communities.

But Wendelken says RIDOH is addressing that.

“From our perspective what we’re trying to do is partner with trusted voices in people’s communities,” he said. “When we do public communication about the importance of vaccine, that the people that are vaccinated and doing the vaccinating are representative, so we want those people to look like Rhode Island looks.”

Wendelken adds that Rhode Island traditionally has one of the vaccination rates in the country, and RIDOH will be tracking how many actually do get vaccinated in nursing homes over the coming weeks.