Good afternoon,
Businesses with Covid-19 vaccination policies are fighting the same forces that keep Delaware’s inoculation rate below those of neighboring states.
A recent report from the Becker’s Hospital site has Delaware’s vaccination rate ranking 20th, just ahead of Florida, below Maryland and New Jersey, and a bit behind Pennsylvania.
A recent report from QuoteWizard, a part of the LendingTree loan information company, shows the following reasons for the lower rate in Delaware.
- 51% are worried about side effects
- 23% don’t believe they need it
- 31% are waiting to see if it’s safe
- 35% don’t trust vaccines
- 22% don’t trust the government
- 8% don’t think Covid-19 is a threat
The numbers don’t add up to 100 since people had multiple reasons for not getting shots.
Click here for the full report that tracks changes in reasons for vaccine hesitancy.
A look at the survey shows a couple of troubling trends in Delaware since August.
Responses to two questions – not trusting the government or believing that Covid-19 is not a threat rose by double digits.
The latter is especially puzzling given the sharp increase in cases. Clearly, fringe political sentiments are driving these trends.
The QuoteWizard study found that about 17% are holding back on getting a Covid shot nationwide due to the lack of health insurance.
Employers using contractors and part-timers can play a role in dealing with this issue by holding vaccination events or constantly communicating information on vaccines being free.
Sadly, the lie that people are being charged for shots has gained traction, and the government at state and national levels has fallen short on messaging.
Dealing with hardened attitudes is difficult to impossible, with social media’s ability to spread questionable information and falsehoods like wildfire.
Then we have the tragic case of the Delaware lawsuit seeking to force ChristianaCare to administer the drug ivermectin to a man who, at last report, is on a ventilator.
A recent story from WDEL is a must-read.
The drug in question, commonly used to rid horses of parasites, is now a “thing” for self-treatment of Covid-19. Still, few will blame his wife for pushing for its use at a desperate time.
We do not know whether the individual is vaccinated, and ChristianaCare has ample reasons for following established treatments that have higher odds of leading to miracle recoveries.
In this environment, far too many people use a powerful version of this drug or others when symptoms appear. The results can be tragic.
It did not have to be this way. But here we are in this disinformation age that sometimes mirrors medieval times, despite advancements in medicine.
Employers have no option other than to deal with these issues directly. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
