Genesee News

With the first batches of the COVID-19 vaccine arriving Michigan, the state has said hospital workers will be among those first to receive it.

Hospital workers on the general medical floors, emergency departments and intensive care units will be able to receive the vaccine if they choose, Bridge Michigan reported. But the vaccine isn't mandatory, and not all hospital workers will choose to receive it. 

“I will decline to take the vaccine,” a Henry Ford Health System nurse told Bridge Michigan. She asked to remain anonymous so that her job wouldn't be threatened. “It might cure COVID for now, but what are the side effects down the line? It was produced so fast. If it was out a little bit longer, and more research was done on it, I’d probably take the vaccine, just like the flu shot or any other vaccine. But because it came out so fast, especially under the administration that we have, it’s just not something that I trust."

Her main concern is whether there has been enough research to show the vaccine is safe for communities of color. She said other employees at Henry Ford Health System have expressed the same concern.

“It's been voiced in several different meetings with upper management, with the CEOs and the president: They're fully aware that nursing staff feels as though they don't want to be somebody's science experiment or a guinea pig,” the anonymous nurse at Henry Ford Health System, who is Black, told Bridge Michigan. 

A Henry Ford spokesperson said the hospital is being mindful of these concerns. 

“While we know the long-term efficacy data is not yet available for COVID-19 vaccines, we are confident in the FDA’s (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approval process and are dedicated to safety, quality and high reliability,” the spokesperson said, according to Bridge Michigan. 

Other hospital workers are torn between getting the vaccine and opting out. 

“I go back and forth, honestly,” Jessica Romanowski, a surgical technician at McLaren Flint Hospital, told Bridge Michigan. “Having personally lost a loved one to COVID, it’s quite terrifying to imagine myself alone or dying on a ventilator. I want to protect myself and my family, especially my immunosuppressed mother."

But at the same time, she knows that pregnant and breastfeeding women were not included in the trials for the vaccine. 

“My husband and I are also looking to start a family soon, and what long-term side effects would this vaccine present to myself -- or my child? History has shown us what can happen when drugs aren’t tested properly; that was evident with the drug thalidomide,” Romanowski told Bridge Michigan.

While the vaccine may come with side effects, it has been reported that they are mild to moderate, such as headaches or a fever. 

“And what that is is your body recognizing the vaccine and developing an immune response,” said Dr. R. Dale Jackson, Sparrow Hospital’s director of emergency medical services/emergency management in Lansing, in a video about the vaccine. “And the end result is you’ve developed antibodies to fight off any future coronavirus infection.”