Scientific American
Nursing Home Workers Had One of the Deadliest Jobs of 2020
An analysis of incomplete data shows they had a death rate higher than that of loggers and may have rivaled fishers for the most perilous profession
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During the pandemic in 2020, nursing home workers died at rates similar to those of the most dangerous professions, such as fishing and logging, in the previous year. Credit: Getty Images
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When you think of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., you might imagine something like logging, fishing or truck driving. But in 2020 one of the deadliest professions of all did not involve operating heavy machinery, braving the elements or driving big rigs but rather caring for the elderly.
Published Thu Jan 28 2021 00:52:14 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Elmwood is the type of place you might expect people would be lining up to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. But the nursing home’s operators say that only one-in-four of Elmwood’s staff has taken the shot. by Lynn Arditi
A Walgreens pharmacist had just thawed a new vial of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Providence, when she realized she had run out of people to vaccinate.
The Pfizer-BioNTec vial had four doses leftover. If the doses weren’t used within six hours, they would expire. So on this mid-January afternoon, the nursing home’s administrator, Josh Segal, put a call out over the intercom.
Fauci Now Says COVID-19 Vaccine May Become Mandatory
Will the COVID-19 vaccine become mandatory? That’s a question many are asking these days and, by the looks of it, the answer may well be yes although as I’ll explain later, I suspect the harms of the vaccine will become so apparent that it’ll kill such efforts before they become widespread.
In a January 1, 2021, Newsweek interview,
1 Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was “sure” some institutions and businesses will require employees to be vaccinated, and that it’s “quite possible” the vaccine will be required for overseas travel.
When asked about the possibility of mandating the vaccine on a local level, such as for children attending school, he stated that “Everything will be on the table for discussion.” That said, he pointed out that since “we almost never mandate things federally” with regard to health he doesn’t believe a national vaccine mandate will be enacted.
Anxious about taking a new vaccine and scarred by a history of being mistreated, many frontline workers at hospitals and nursing homes are balking at getting inoculated against COVID-19. Anxious about their patients’ health and scarred by many thousands of deaths in the past year, hospitals and nursing homes are desperate to have their employees vaccinated. Those opposing forces have spawned an unusual situation: In addition to educating their workers about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines, a growing number of employers are dangling incentives like cash, extra time off and even Waffle House gift cards for those who get inoculated, while in at least a few cases saying they will fire those who refuse. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Officials at two large long-term care chains, Juniper Communities and Atria Senior Living, said they were requiring their workers, with limited exceptions, to take the vaccine if they wanted to keep their jobs. “F