NORTH CAROLINA — Nursing homes account for less than 1% of the United States population, but nearly 40% of all COVID-19 deaths.
Even though they have been hit hard, some of the people who care for residents are deciding to not get the vaccine.
Channel 9′s Tina Terry started investigating this and learned some places are now considering requiring staff to get it.
Terry Allen has seen the damage COVID-19 can do. His mother was in a local nursing home when she caught the virus and died months later.
One of them is a very large company that owns a lot of local nursing homes and across the state. It plans to make the vaccine mandatory, and said they want 100% participation.
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“Nobody wants to see their loved one in that situation, go through something that could be avoided,” Allen said. “What this did was accelerate her Parkinson’s -- to the point where she couldn’t’ swallow.”
He supports a plan by ALG Senior and other nursing homes to make vaccinations mandatory for all staff.
On Friday, the company’s chief medical officer, Kevin O’Neil, said about 60% of staff members have taken the vaccine voluntarily, but others have been hesitant.
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“We are going to be making it mandatory by May. Right now we are mandating it for any new hires,” O’Neil said. “You have a moral obligation to protect residents because of the work you do.”
A local employment attorney said he’s started getting lots of call from people who don’t want to take the vaccine.
“And we are seeing those calls more in the health care sector where you would expect it,” employment attorney Josh Van Kampen said.
He said as a general rule employers can require vaccinations as a condition of employment, but there are exceptions like medical conditions and a person’s religious beliefs.
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Allen said he’d be in favor of even more nursing homes adopting the policy to protect the people they care for.
“It would be really irresponsible if you didn’t take all the precautions you had made available to you,” Allen said.
An employee at ALG Senior actually contacted Channel 9 concerned about the policy. She believes it will lead to a mass exodus of employees who don’t want the vaccine.
The company said it has been working to educate people about the benefits of the vaccination.