Page 12 - OCMS1Q21

HUMAN RESOURCES
Vaccine
Addressing Common Employee Concerns and Fears Surrounding the Coronavirus
immunity and halt the epidemic. This could happen through surviving natural infection or through
There are also potential moral and ethical conflicts with imparting your will on other people’s healthcare
decisions, not to mention legal considerations. So, the next best option is to encourage voluntary
vaccination among your team through education. To do this, you have to understand your audience. Who
is on the fence or opposed to the vaccine and why? I encourage you to have one-on-one, private
conversations with each of your team members to understand their point of view and dispel any
unfounded concerns or fears with factual information they can use to make well-informed decisions. To
aid you in this endeavor, I have listed the three most common reasons I have heard for being hesitant or
opposed to the vaccine and the evidence-based responses you can share with your staff to address each
one.
1. Distrust of the expedited vaccine development/approval process: It is important to understand
the process a vaccine goes through in order to be deemed safe, effective and available for public
use. There are components that are related to development and testing and there are
components related to funding, manufacturing and distribution logistics. Before developing
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the fastest vaccine took four years to bring to market. Given the
devastating effects COVID-19 has had on our country and the world as a whole, we couldn’t afford
to wait that long. The Trump Administration launched Operation Warp Speed in early 2020 to
remove any barriers that would cause unnecessary delays. Congress has directed almost $10
billion to support this effort through supplemental funding, including the CARES Act. The increase
in funding, the coordination of efforts among government agencies and private industry, and the
green light to begin manufacturing while the clinical trials were being conducted have significantly
reduced the timeline for the coronavirus vaccines.
According to the HHS Fact Sheet on Operation Warp Speed, “Protocols for the demonstration of
safety and efficacy are being aligned, which will allow the trials to proceed more quickly, and the
protocols for the trials will be overseen by the federal government, as opposed to traditional
public-private partnerships, in which pharmaceutical companies decide on their own protocols.
Rather than eliminating steps from traditional development timelines, steps will proceed
simultaneously, such as starting manufacturing of the vaccine at industrial scale well before the
Addressing Common Employee Concerns and Vaccine
By Jodi Schafer, SPHR, SHRM-SCP www.workwithhrm.com
By Jodi Schafer, SPHR, SHRM-SCP www.workwithhrm
While the exact percentage is unknown, experts estimate that in the U.S., 70% of the population — more
While the exact percentage is unknown, experts estimate t
than 200 million people — would have to obtain immunity to COVID-19 for our society to achieve herd
than 200 million people — would have to obtain immunit
1 immunity and halt the epidemic. This could happen thr While vaccination is the preferred route, the national appetite for recently introduced
vaccination.
mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna is hovering around 50-60% depending on which poll you read.
Employers, especially healthcare employers, can play an important role in increasing vaccination numbers
vaccination.1 While vaccination is the preferred route, t mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna is hovering arou
Employers, especially healthcare employers, can play an im
among their team, which is essential to ending this pandemic.
among their team, which is essential to ending this pandem
However, going so far as to mandate compliance has its risks. No one wants to lose staff over this decision.
However, going so far as to mandate compliance has its risks
There are also potential moral and ethical conflicts with im
decisions, not to mention legal considerations. So, the
vaccination among your team through education. To do this
is on the fence or opposed to the vaccine and why? I
conversations with each of your team members to und
unfounded concerns or fears with factual information they
aid you in this endeavor, I have listed the three most com
opposed to the vaccine and the evidence-based responses
one.
1. Distrust of the expedited vaccine development/ap
the process a vaccine goes through in order to be d
use. There are components that are related t
components related to funding, manufacturing a
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the fastest vaccine to
devastating effects COVID-19 has had on our countr
to wait that long. The Trump Administration laun
remove any barriers that would cause unnecessar
billion to support this effort through supplemental f
in funding, the coordination of efforts among gover
green light to begin manufacturing while the clinical reduced the timeline for the coronavirus vaccines.
According to the HHS Fact Sheet on Operation War
safety and efficacy are being aligned, which will all
protocols for the trials will be overseen by the fe
public-private partnerships, in which pharmaceutic
Rather than eliminating steps from traditional
simultaneously, such as starting manufacturing of
1 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-coronavirus/art-
20486808
1 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/i 20486808
1 | P a g e MARCH/APRIL 2021 | WWW.OCMS-MI.ORG
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