Introduction
The disruptive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic have illustrated the ultimate value of healthcare professionals and the importance of their capability to manage the disease outbreak effectively and efficiently. As first responders, healthcare employees should be properly protected from contamination threats since their health directly impacts their patients and the general public. Indeed, medical workers face increased exposure to infections, which puts them at daily risk of infection. Vaccination is one of the safest and most effective protection and preventative measures that might reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and save lives (Lubell, 2021). Therefore, medical leaders must show an example to citizens and promote vaccination. The reasons validating the necessity of mandatory vaccination of healthcare employees are presented in this paper to encourage the decision-makers to act accordingly.
Justification of COVID-19 Vaccination for Healthcare Workforces
Minimization of Hospitalization, Morbidity, and Mortality
The first reason justifying the need for healthcare employees to get vaccinated is that the COVID-19 vaccine saves lives by minimizing the rates of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality. Indeed, research shows that vaccines are highly effective as a preventative measure since “nearly 280,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations in the U.S” have been averted due to immunization efforts (Lubell, 2021, para. 3). Thus, the effectiveness of such an intervention validates the protection capacity of vaccines.
Physicians’ Vaccination Protecting Patients
The second reason for the encouraged vaccination of medical personnel is that it will mitigate the risks of severe illness in patients. Since medical personnel respond urgently and interact directly with patients, it is a means of patient safety to ensure the reduction of contamination risks while in care (Lubell, 2021). Different levels of risks faced by healthcare workers are predisposed by the tasks they complete when serving COVID-positive patients. For example, employees collecting specimens and performing aerosol-generating practices are most encouraged to get vaccinated (United States Department of Labor, n. d.). Therefore, vaccinated workers will not infect patients when interacting with them and vice versa.
Ethical Duty
Thirdly, vaccination is ethically justified for the employees in the healthcare setting due to their responsible care delivery. Indeed, the American Medical Association recognizes that “physicians have an ethical duty to get immunized against pandemic disease” (Lubell, 2021, para. 10). Sine they knowingly interact with large numbers of patients daily and are directly exposed to the infection, they carry a high level of risk of transmitting the virus from ill to healthy patients, escalating the pandemic burden.
Positive Example for the General Public
Another important reason for healthcare workers’ vaccination is that obligatory COVID-19 immunization of the medical workforce sets a positive example for the general public to follow. Immunizing healthcare workers with a safe vaccine will demonstrate the credibility and reliability of the vaccination campaigns and minimize life and monetary losses related to the pandemic (Lubell, 2021). People’s trust in vaccines will increase, and the overall immunization of the population will be higher, thus reducing the scope of negative implications of the disease.
Conclusion
Vaccination is an important preventative measure that minimizes the severity of COVID-19 cases, reduces hospitalization rates, and shortens mortality levels. Implementing mandatory healthcare personnel immunization is essential to ensure short- and long-term public health benefits. Proper vaccination will allow for protecting the patients, eliminating severe risks of new breakouts of the epidemic, as well as reducing organizational costs associated with hospitalization and treatment within a broader context.
References
Lubell, J. (2021). Why COVID-19 vaccination should be required for health professionals. Web.
United States Department of Labor. (n. d.). Healthcare workers and employers. Web.