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Illinoisans older than 65 continue to get vaccinated in higher
numbers. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said last week that about 70% of the
state’s elderly population had received at least their first of
two vaccination injections.
The vaccination rates are credited with COVID-19 infection rates
falling in managed care facilities by more than 80% in as little
as seven weeks nationwide, according to a report from the U.S.
Public Interest Research Group. The report notes that studies
have shown “COVID-19 cases dropped more quickly among residents
as well as nursing home workers in homes that had done their
first round of vaccinations compared with nursing homes that had
not provided any vaccines yet.”
Despite national and state efforts to vaccinate facility
employees – who are often found to be one path into nursing
homes for the virus – don’t seem as enthusiastic about the
vaccines as their residents have.
As of Mar. 15, 69,000 health care workers in Illinois had been
fully vaccinated via a federal program, according to data
compiled by the Center for Public Integrity. That amounts to
just over half of the state’s total staff.
“The top three reasons we have heard have been concerns about
the speed in which the vaccine was developed and approved, some
concerns about infertility issues, and some concerns about
long-term side effects,” said Dr. David Gifford, Chief Medical
Officer at the American Health Care Association. “The vaccine
development didn’t skip any steps at all. It was very safe. It
does not cause infertility, and the side effects are almost
non-existent other than the short-term effects of pain, fever,
aches, headaches.”
The ACHA coordinated with the federal government to vaccinate
facility residents that had seen the vast majority of residents
in the U.S. vaccinated by mid-March.
Illinois’ veterans’ homes, one of which had seen an outbreak of
COVID-19 in late 2020 that killed dozens of residents, have
similar rates of vaccination. Tony Kolbeck, chief of staff for
the state VA department, told the House Veterans Affairs
Committee in March that 96.9% of the residents and 53% of the
staff at the homes have been vaccinated. During the department’s
winter campaign to vaccinate VA workers, the majority were
refusing. In Manteno, only 18 percent had accepted a shot when
offered.
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