2LT International News

NEW YORK CITY, New York: Genesis Healthcare, which has 70,000 employees at nearly 400 nursing homes and senior communities, has made it mandatory for employees to be vaccinated if they wish to keep their jobs, a sign that owners are willing to risk an exodus at already dangerously understaffed facilities to vaccinate the 40 percent of workers still resisting Covid inoculations.

Some experts have called for mandatory vaccinations at nursing homes, warning that unprotected staff members are endangering residents.

More than 1,250 nursing home residents across the U.S. were infected with COVID-19 in the week ending July 25, double the number from one week earlier, and 202 died, according to federal data.

“It’s so easy now to say, ‘Well, Genesis is doing it. Now we’ll do it,'” said Brian Lee, who leads Families for Better Care, an advocacy group for long-term care residents. “This is a big domino to fall.”

Some local governments are taking the decision out of the industry’s hands, with Massachusetts and Denver announcing mandatory vaccinations for workers at nursing homes this week.

But Associated Press interviews discovered that the threat of workers quitting en masse over the shots may be exaggerated.

After the Canterbury Court nursing home in Atlanta announced a mandate in January, CEO Debi McNeil was fearful of a “massive walkout”, but in the end, only 10 of 180 workers quit.

At Jewish Home Family in Rockleigh, New Jersey, only five of 527 workers at its nursing home and assisted-living facilities quit when told they must vaccinate. Also, Westminster Village in Bloomington, Illinois, lost only two out of 250.

Some workers have rejected the vaccine because they think it was rushed into development and is unsafe, or they feel protected because they already contracted COVID-19. Others have been swayed by false rumors that the vaccine was made from dead babies or contains microchips or will make those who receive it infertile.

Pennsylvania-based Genesis said voluntary vaccinations were appropriate earlier in the pandemic, but not now, as the more infectious Delta variant spreads, while only 65 percent of its staff has received shots. Genesis is giving employees until August 23 to receive their first vaccination.

“To succeed against the delta variant is going to require much higher vaccination rates,” said Chief Medical Officer Richard Feifer. “Our tactics in the fight have to change.”

Jennifer Moore of Hollywood, Florida, whose husband is living at a nursing home where only 35 percent of the staff is vaccinated, said it is also a matter of ethics.

“Whenever I see a story about somebody being anti-vax, I just want to scream,” said Moore, whose husband, Thomas, has Parkinson’s disease. “I understand people have concerns about the vaccine, but these people are working with the most vulnerable population. They have a duty to their patients.”