While many health care workers are eager to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine, some are apprehensive about how quickly it was developed. | stock photo
While many health care workers are eager to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine, some are apprehensive about how quickly it was developed. | stock photo
As COVID-19 is reaching near-critical levels in hospitals across the U.S., the first COVID-19 vaccines are being delivered to medical professionals and health care workers.
While the vaccines may provide needed relief to the country’s strained hospital capacities, there are still mixed emotions in regards to receiving the vaccine. Some are eager to receive it, as Pfizer’s vaccine, approved ahead of Moderna and AstraZeneca, begins to be distributed nationwide.
“My husband and I have been talking about this for [a] very, very long [time]. He's also in health care. We’re just excited to be able to protect ourselves, our children and, hopefully, try to protect our community,” one excited hospital employee said, according to Bridge Michigan.
Though many have expressed optimism about the vaccine, there are some who also have reservations regarding the speed at which it was developed and the possible blind spots within its demographics research.
Jessica Romanowski, a surgical technician at McLaren Flint Hospital, has wavered about whether she will get the vaccine. She is well aware of the risks that contracting COVID-19 can pose. “It’s quite terrifying to imagine myself alone or dying on a ventilator. I want to protect myself and my family, especially my immunosuppressed mother,” she told Bridge Michigan.
On the other hand, Romanowski is concerned about lack of information on the vaccine research with regards to pregnancy. “My husband and I are also looking to start a family soon, and what long-term side effects would this vaccine present to myself -- or my child? History has shown us what can happen when drugs aren’t tested properly,” she said, according to Bridge Michigan. She is referring to the 1960s drug thalidomide, a treatment for morning sickness, which unintentionally created significant birth defects in unborn babies.
While there is still this back-and-forth between excitement and skepticism for the COVID-19 vaccinations, September data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that a majority of health care personnel (63%) would be likely to get a vaccine once it is available.
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