With the first Massachusetts responders next in line to receive the coronavirus vaccine, the Auburn Police Department, like many law enforcement agencies across the state, investigated its officers earlier this month to see how many are planning to be vaccinated to become for the viral respiratory infection.
The results were convincing. Less than half of the department members, 29 officers, said they plan to be vaccinated, while 31 responded that they do not, and the police chief among those who prefer not to be vaccinated .
“Given my age and the fact that I have no underlying health conditions, I would have a more than 99% chance of surviving if I survived COVID,” Andrew J. Sluckis Jr., Auburn Police Chief, said in a telephone interview to MassLive said. .
The 56-year-old police chief pointed out that the long-term side effects of the recently developed vaccine are still unknown, and unlike previous vaccines that took years to develop, it took COVID-19 months.
“I would risk my 99-to-1 chance of not getting the vaccine,” Sluckis said. “You could not pay me to take it.”
The findings in Auburn are not atypical.
Authorities in Massachusetts said there are a number of first responders who do not intend to be vaccinated, either due to allergies or personal reasons. Although the split may not be nearly 50-50, as in Auburn, the number it prefers not to be vaccinated is significant.
“People have legitimate concerns,” Sluckis said.
For many residents, however, coronavirus vaccines, such as those manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, were a sell-out, a light at the end of the tunnel amid a pandemic that claimed a monumental toll worldwide. that any country has higher infections or virus-linked deaths than the United States.
First responders and others who have placed themselves on the front lines of the pandemic have seen its toll first hand.
Numerous Massachusetts police officers and firefighters – in Boston, Attleboro, Worcester, Springfield and other communities – contracted COVID-19 at various points during the public health crisis, and several were hospitalized with the virus.
Among them is Norton Det. Sgt. Stephen Desfosses, who was recently anesthetized and intubated after contracting the virus in early December, as well as pneumonia and flu.
Other first responders, such as Taunton police officer John Borges and Rutland police officer John D. Songy, died of the viral respiratory infection.
According to the state’s three – phase plan for the introduction of the coronavirus vaccine, first responders are expected to receive doses of the vaccine by 11 January, according to officials. Their vaccinations follow the demographics of other risks, including frontline workers at hospitals and residents of long-term care facilities.
Firefighters in Quincy, Massachusetts, were among the first responders in the state to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As officials want to roll out more doses of the vaccine, many police officers and firefighters say they have no plans to be vaccinated. (Friends of Quincy Firefighters IAFF Local 792)
Firefighters in Quincy became the first in their profession in Massachusetts on Dec. 31 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Facebook message from the city’s firefighters’ union.
Other municipalities are continuing to plan the inevitable vaccine administration.
The towns of Ashland, Hopkinton, Northborough, Southborough and Westborough announced on Thursday that they are working together to coordinate a vaccination clinic for all employees in public safety and first response in their communities.
“This is an important step for the first response to ensure their personal safety and the safety of their families and loved ones as we deal with the pandemic together,” said Mark Leahy, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and former Northborough Police Chief. “People need to protect themselves, their families, their loved ones and their colleagues.”
Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine has already been shown to be reliable. The two immunization candidates tested on a large scale for months and were approved by the federal government earlier this month, which was nearly 95% effective at the end of their trials.
No serious safety issues were also observed during the vaccination trials, and according to Pfizer and Moderna, the adverse effects of the candidates for vaccination were limited.
The efficacy and safety data around the tens of thousands of people who participated in the Pfizer and Modern vaccine routes will be tracked down for another two years, according to the companies.
Nevertheless, a significant portion of the world population is wary of vaccines, such as Sluckis, skeptical about the rapid development timeline and how vaccinations can affect the human body in the long run.
Sixty to 70% of the Auburn fire department, for example, plans to be vaccinated, leaving according to city fire chief Stephen Coleman 40 to 30% who do not want to do so.
‘It’s a little over half. It is probably closer to 70% for us who get it, “said the fire chief, adding that he is in the majority of those who intend to be vaccinated.
Some members of the department who do not intend to get the vaccine know that they will get an allergic reaction if they do, he added.
Coleman pointed out firefighters in Auburn and other communities, especially those with dual paramedic roles, who regularly come in contact with COVID-19 patients, making the need to be vaccinated more urgent.
“We just have closer contact with really sick people,” he said.
The sentiment of the fire chief was reiterated by Sluckis, who remarked that if he had been a firefighter and not a police officer, his opinion on receiving the vaccine would probably change.
“If I work on the ambulance daily and transport COVID-positive people to the hospital, I will choose to take the vaccine,” he said. ‘But I do not work in that capacity. In my circumstances, I would not accept it. If you work in the hospital with COVID patients, I’ll probably take the vaccination, but I work in a police capacity, it’s a completely different set of circumstances. ”
The Auburn Fire Department. (Google Maps)
According to Rich MacKinnon Jr., president of the Massachusetts Professional Firefighters (PFFM), the percentage of firefighters in Auburn who are about to be vaccinated appears to match the numbers of other firefighters across the state. The union represents more than 12,000 firefighters and emergency medical technicians throughout the Commonwealth.
In the Boston Department, about 60% of firefighters want to take the vaccine, and according to MacKinnon, about 60 to 70% of firefighters in the country plan to take part in surveys among other departments in the state. .
The high risk of exposure to COVID-19 at work is a primary reason why firefighters should be vaccinated as soon as possible.
“We had firefighters in ICU units, hospitals,” MacKinnon said. “At the moment (on 31 December) we have 802 members with the virus and 615 in quarantine. The more reactions we do, the more exposure we get. Of course, our COVID responses increased as the numbers increased. It is a risk we willingly accept, but therefore we must be one of the first to be vaccinated. ‘
The push to get firefighters vaccinated in Massachusetts has come under the spotlight in recent weeks, with the PFFM plaguing the state for its vaccination plan for first responders.
MacKinnon claims that the state has no viable plan to vaccinate firefighters in the cities and towns of Massachusetts, but leaves the task of vaccinating municipal first responders to local health councils, many of which differ greatly in size and resources.
According to MacKinnon, where a firefighter can go to be vaccinated, when they can do it and who is going to vaccinate it, these are some of the basic questions the state has yet to answer.
“We are seeing our brother and sister firefighters across the country and even neighboring states being vaccinated now,” MacKinnon noted. “There are a lot of structural problems that have not been answered.”
Unlike the pressure to get firefighters vaccinated, the attempt to get the Massachusetts police vaccinated for COVID-19 has not yet received as much attention. However, the attitude of officers towards the vaccine may improve as more and more people are vaccinated, according to Leahy.
Massachusetts police have been questioning for weeks about their attitude toward the vaccine, whether they have a good, bad or indifferent opinion about it.
Initially, many officials expressed negative attitudes toward the vaccine, but according to Leahy, opinions have slowly changed to become more confident in the vaccination.
“A month ago there was a lot of hesitation, and there seems to be a lot of concern about the unknown,” he said. ‘Now the tide has really shifted to:’ How soon can we do that? ‘”
“The positive attitude is strong,” he added.
Tragedies involving police officers, such as the death of Borges in Taunton, have shown, according to Leahy, the importance of vaccinating first responders.
“I honestly hope people accept it as a wake-up call,” he said. “This is important, and first responders are very exposed to the virus in their daily tasks.”
Although both Leahy and MacKinnon believe it is important that first respondents be vaccinated, they are reluctant to say there should be a mandate. Both said the coronavirus vaccine was a personal decision.
There is no indication that authorities require first responders to be vaccinated. Spokesmen for the Springfield and Worcester police departments said officers would not be expected to do so, and Massachusetts State Police officials declined to comment.
“We are in the process of finalizing the logistics for the administration of vaccines to the department members. “We anticipate the administration of the vaccine at local MSP facilities in a way that will prevent the shortage of coverage at barracks and units, and we expect to be able to start vaccination in January,” a police spokesman said.
In Auburn, the city manager as well as the police and community fire chiefs discussed whether to vaccinate officers and firefighters. According to Sluckis, they chose to make vaccinations voluntary.
“I do not think you should be able to apply a vaccine that I think is still experimental,” the police chief said. “It does not seem to me.”
Officials from the COVID-19 Command Center and the Executive Office for Public Safety are expected to meet with the first respondents on Thursday to review planning for the vaccination process. According to a spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, a spokesman will soon make more information available about vaccine vaccinations.
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