Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Clint Hermes provided insight on vaccinating hospital staff against COVID-19. Vaccine distribution plans being prepared now are expected to call for front-line healthcare workers to be among the first recipients of a COVID-19 vaccine in limited supply. According to a recent survey from Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, only 53% of the 1,101 Americans surveyed in August said they were highly likely to get vaccinated. The percentages could be reduced if a vaccine is made available through an emergency use authorization (EUA) rather than full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. EUAs can be issued with more limited safety and efficacy data, and many hospital staff may not want to be first in line.
“I would very much be talking with my leadership team about how we are going to address staff concerns about safety, particularly if the FDA issues an emergency use authorization this fall,” Clint said. “Hospitals have to think about the extent to which they engage staff and how hard they push staff to take a pre-approval COVID vaccine.”
The full article, “Half of Americans Are ‘Highly Likely’ to Get COVID-19 Vaccinations,” was published by Modern Healthcare on August 28 and is available online (subscription required).