Eleven hospitals across Kentucky will receive the first batch of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine for health care workers. That includes St. Elizabeth’s in Edgewood. “The initial allocations sites were chosen because they were large enough to handle the minimum pallet or size of the Pfizer vaccine that shipped — that’s 975,” said Gov. Andy Beshear.This is good news for health care workers who’ve fought through the dark days of this pandemic, but now a new issue is at hand, trust. A recent pew research center survey shows only 51% of adults in the U.S. indicated they would take a coronavirus vaccine. “If employees want to get back to work, it’s probably going to be a better idea to take the vaccine so that everyone is immunized and safe at work than it is to really resist that,” said Employment Attorney Tod J. Thompson, Attorney At Law.Thompson said if an employer expects or requires workers to be vaccinated for continued employment, that’s within their rights. “Employers can terminate employees at will for any reason or no reason at all,” said Thompson.Distrust of a vaccine is even higher among communities of color, which is why The Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio is working to educate underserved communities about the vaccine. “We want them to use every tool at their disposal to keep them and their families safe, but we also understand that there is a lot of mistrust and a lot of that has to do with historically how African Americans and other disadvantaged populations have been taken advantage of for medical experiments,” said Urban League chief operating officer Cinnamon Pell.The Urban League will continue their free testing Fridays, Dec. 4 in their parking lot from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thompson said there may be some exceptions for those to refuse the vaccine including if an employee has a disability or religious reasons. In Kentucky, about two-thirds of those doses will go to long-term care residents and staff. Walgreens and CVS will handle the distribution for this group.
Eleven hospitals across Kentucky will receive the first batch of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine for health care workers. That includes St. Elizabeth’s in Edgewood.
“The initial allocations sites were chosen because they were large enough to handle the minimum pallet or size of the Pfizer vaccine that shipped — that’s 975,” said Gov. Andy Beshear.
This is good news for health care workers who’ve fought through the dark days of this pandemic, but now a new issue is at hand, trust.
A recent pew research center survey shows only 51% of adults in the U.S. indicated they would take a coronavirus vaccine.
“If employees want to get back to work, it’s probably going to be a better idea to take the vaccine so that everyone is immunized and safe at work than it is to really resist that,” said Employment Attorney Tod J. Thompson, Attorney At Law.
Thompson said if an employer expects or requires workers to be vaccinated for continued employment, that’s within their rights.
“Employers can terminate employees at will for any reason or no reason at all,” said Thompson.
Distrust of a vaccine is even higher among communities of color, which is why The Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio is working to educate underserved communities about the vaccine.
“We want them to use every tool at their disposal to keep them and their families safe, but we also understand that there is a lot of mistrust and a lot of that has to do with historically how African Americans and other disadvantaged populations have been taken advantage of for medical experiments,” said Urban League chief operating officer Cinnamon Pell.
The Urban League will continue their free testing Fridays, Dec. 4 in their parking lot from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Thompson said there may be some exceptions for those to refuse the vaccine including if an employee has a disability or religious reasons.
In Kentucky, about two-thirds of those doses will go to long-term care residents and staff.
Walgreens and CVS will handle the distribution for this group.
