The 26,000 Houston Methodist Hospital workers can look forward to extra money in March – as long as they get money COVID-19 vaccine.
The hospital’s president and CEO, dr. Marc Bloom, in an email to employees last week, said they could look forward to a $ 500 bonus as “thank you for your perseverance during a difficult 2020.” Eligibility criteria to receive the award include receiving a COVID-19 vaccination, which is a fulfillment of our obligation as health workers to lead the community, ‘he said.
The hospital also gave $ 500 bonuses for their work about six weeks ago during the pandemic, which killed nearly 353,000 Americans. Houston was particularly hard hit, with nearly 2,700 deaths and more than 247,000 confirmed cases in surrounding Harris County.
Employers, including healthcare providers, are dealing with the vaccination of their workforce. For now, vaccination is not necessary for Houston Methodist employees, but will ‘eventually’ be for most workers, Bloom writes. Although many companies no longer stop to make the shots mandatory, they have the ready to require immunization for most workers under recent federal employment guidelines.
“I think people want it more than not wanting it,” said a Houston Methodist spokeswoman who received her second dose of vaccine on Monday.
There is at least anecdotal evidence of unwillingness among some health professionals to take the shots, with dr. Joseph Varon, head of critical care at Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center, who recently conveyed concern among nurses in his unit to NPR.
Concerns about COVID-19 vaccines are highest among African Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, which recently found that less than half of black adults plan to be vaccinated, compared to 60% of Americans in general who intends to get the shots.
African Americans less confidence in the medical system than white patients, and they often receive worse care, studies have found. In part, it reflects the history of medical abuse of black Americans, including experimental surgeries on addicted black women between 1845 and 1849 by Alabama surgeon J. Marion Sims as well as the infamous Tuskegee Institute experiments in the 1930s who investigated the progression of syphilis in black men.
Fears that political considerations could undermine security issues, especially for African Americans, have driven the country’s oldest black doctor group to a task force. to track the data as drug manufacturers vaccines developed. The group last month expressed support for the two vaccines currently being distributed.
Some experts support the idea of providing employees with a financial incentive to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The ‘adult’ version of the doctor handing out sweets to children happily suggests a solution: pay people who get the chance (or shots, as more than one may be needed),” said Robert Litan, a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution, said in an August opinion piece for the Washington Brainstorm. ‘How much? I do not know of a hard science that can answer the question, but my strong idea is that nothing less than $ 1,000 per person will do the trick. ‘
But other economists say such payments could catch fire again, citing studies that suggest they offer money in exchange for vaccination could lead to the conclusion that the shots are risky.