Mandates: Vaccination holdouts continue to plague U.S. police and fire departments

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Mon, 2021-10-04 10:24 — mike kraft

As coronavirus cases mount and vaccine mandates spread, holdouts plague police and fire departments Public health experts say the continued reluctance of scores of first responders to be vaccinated poses a particular risk to the public. Mark Berman Washington Post

... Nearly a quarter of Americans age 18 and older remain unvaccinated, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data, frustrating officials and fueling bitter debates. Yet the continued resistance among the first responders included in those tens of millions is particularly troubling and creates a different kind of threat, experts say.

Due to the nature of their jobs, first responders regularly have close contact with the public, which increases their risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus among themselves, their families and the people they are sworn to protect, experts in public health and policing said.

The resistance to vaccination is surprising, some said, given how the virus has battered law enforcement’s ranks since the beginning of the pandemic, and continued to do so as the delta variant has taken hold.

Covid was the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths last year, killing at least 182 officers, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, which tracks such deaths. That’s nearly double the number killed by gun violence and vehicle crashes combined. At least 133 officers have died of covid so far this year, according to the organization. ...

But despite the toll the pandemic has taken, tensions over vaccinations have only increased as unions and individual officers and firefighters have railed against mandates, filing lawsuits and threatening to quit if the shots are required. ...

Experts were split about the reasons behind so many officers remaining resistant to vaccination. Some point to the same misinformation and fear impacting the decisions of other Americans. ...

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