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Statement on COVID Vaccine as a Condition of Employment · The SHEA Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Rapid Response Podcast brought to you by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology for America, SHA, promoting the prevention of healthcare associated infections and antibiotic resistance and seeking to advance the field of healthcare epidemiology and antibiotic stewardship.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I am David J.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Weber, the Addison and Elizabeth Ann Sanders Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine and a professor of epidemiology at the Gilling School of Global Public Health.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I also served as medical director for UNC's Medical Center's Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Associate Chief Medical Officer.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I currently serve on the SHA Board of Trustees as Secretary.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Discussion on the podcast does not reflect SHAIS perspective, but facilitates communication of multiple perspectives and experiences as we go through this challenging time together.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Shea is excited to launch this episode of the podcast, COVID-19 updates, what we know now.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today's discussion will focus on the July 13th multi-society statement regarding COVID-19 vaccines.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: This consensus statement by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, SHA, the Society for Postacute and Long-Term Care Medicine, AMDA, the Association for Professionals in Epidemiology and Infect Control, ATEC, the HIV Medicine Association, HIVMA, the Infectious Disease Society of America, IDSA, the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, PIDS, and Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists, SIDP, recommends that COVID vaccination should be a condition of employment for all health care personnel.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Exemptions from this policy apply to those with medical contradictions to all COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and other exemptions as specified by federal or state law.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: The consensus statement also supports COVID-19 vaccination of non-employees functioning as the healthcare facility, such as students, contract workers, volunteers, and others.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Our speakers for today are Dr.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Marcy Dries.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Dries is the chief infection prevention officer and hospital epidemiologist at Christiana Care in Delaware and an associate professor of medicine at the Cindy Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: She is currently the chair of the SHA Education Committee and serves as the SHA liaison to the Advisory Committee on Inmunization Practices, the ACIT.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Trini Matthews is an associate professor of medicine at Oakland University, William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan, and is a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion of the medical school.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: She is on staff at the Bowman Hospital and Royal Oak, where until early March 2021, she was the medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention and spearheaded the COVID-19 pandemic response.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Currently, she is an independent consultant for infection prevention and infectious disease and established health temp cycle.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: She also serves as the chair of SHAIS Public Policy and Government Affairs Committee and as a member of SHAIS Community-based healthcare epidemiologists.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: She also serves on the Inclusion, Diversity, Access and Equity Task Force of the Infectious Disease Society of America.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, we have Dr.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sharon Wright.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sharon Wright is the Chief Infection Prevention Officer of Beth Israel Leahy Health, where she provides oversight of infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship for a system of 13 hospitals, long-term care and behavioral care vetted units, and ambulatory care practices.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: She is an associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School and is on faculty of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wright currently serves as the president-elect on the SHAY Board of Trustees.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you all for joining us today.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I now want to move into discussion with our speakers.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: The first question is for Dr.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Wright.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Please describe the process by which SHAY and other endorsing societies developed this consensus position statement.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Dr.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: Weber.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: This was a topic that Shay felt was very important, that we should evaluate the issues as leaders in public health and help our membership and those in healthcare facilities to make informed decisions.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So the goal was really to evaluate data as was done by Shea for flu vaccination as a condition of employment for healthcare personnel.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: And we were careful to go into it without any preformed opinions and really to evaluate the data.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: This was a panel of more than 25 experts in infection prevention and infectious diseases that was assisted by legal and public law experts and was really meant to be very multidisciplinary and multi-organizational with participants from many different types of healthcare settings.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: And we reviewed the COVID literature for safety and efficacy as well as non-condition of employment methods to achieve high vaccination coverage.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: We had a high-level overview of the process when we started, and we had a modified Delphi process and combined it into one document.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: Although we didn't necessarily expect this when we started out, as Dr.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Weber mentioned, we were able to reach a full consensus on the panel and had endorsements by multiple organizations.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: That the use of this, though, is really to aid institutions in making their own plans and moving forward.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: But in the end, we hope that this is a statement that will be useful.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Drees, next question is for you.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why was the position statement important at this time?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Dr.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: Weber.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, when the COVID vaccines first became available, I think that many of us felt that even if our institutions already had policies in place to require other vaccines as conditions of employment, that it would be counterproductive to also require COVID vaccination immediately.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: While many healthcare personnel were anxious to get it and even got upset if they weren't among the first in line, you know, others definitely wanted to take a wait and see approach.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I think by allowing them to take that approach, you know, many of them then became more confident over time and ultimately were vaccinated.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas I think if we had mandated it out of the gate, I don't think they would have heard anything else that we need to say.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: However, you know, we're really in a very different place now.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: Hundreds of millions of doses have been given, and the overwhelming evidence is that these vaccines are safe.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: They remain effective even with Delta and the other variants.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_03: And certainly the advent of Delta and what's happening now in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, you know, really reminds us that we are not out of the woods.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: And unfortunately, the healthcare personnel vaccination rate really remains suboptimal, often reflecting the community rates where that each facility is located.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: So those areas with low vaccination rates may also have the most unprotected healthcare personnel workforce.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: So Shea and others felt that we really needed to make a strong statement supporting healthcare personnel vaccination and really supporting facilities to take meaningful steps to increase their vaccination rates.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew or Dr.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Wright, do either of you have any comments you would like to add?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, thank you, Dr.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Weber.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I also am concerned about the increase in Delta variant and the position statement has come at the right time because of what is happening in the US and globally with the Delta variant.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: And therefore, this is the time for healthcare personnel to think through about what their risks are and what the vaccine can provide us as protection.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: So this is really important for us to consider.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Drees, turning again to you, can you please describe the current knowledge on COVID vaccine efficacy, effectiveness, and safety?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know, as I think everyone is aware, the vaccine efficacy, as demonstrated in the clinical trials, was extremely high, nearly 95% with the mRNA vaccines and 72% the US participants in the J and J vaccine.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: But all vaccines really demonstrated protection, particularly against severe COVID, including hospitalizations and deaths, which really is the primary goal.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I think what was especially gratifying to see was the high level protection offered to older individuals who certainly had borne the runt of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: As far as effectiveness goes, I think, you know, what has certainly been reassuring is the many vaccine effectiveness studies that have since come out demonstrating how well these vaccines form under real-world missions and that have demonstrated that the vaccines remain highly protective, you know, maybe not quite 95%, but really not too much lower than that, you know, even among the B117 or alpha variants that became predominant in March, you know, and the Delta variant now.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: And so, you know, as many may be aware, there are some recent data suggesting that the J and J vaccines less effective, the recent study showing 67%, but other studies have contradicted this.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: So I think the jury is still out on that specifically.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: There is a two-dose J and J study that's all underway.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it's also important to remember that antibody levels are are not the only piece of information that we need about the immune system.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have a great way to study, you know, T cell and B memory cell responses.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I think, you know, sometimes that the antibody levels can underestimate.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: As far as safety, you know, again, I would just say that, you know, the safety monitoring system that's occurring for these vaccines is unprecedented.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: And we know more about the safety of the vaccine we ever have had for a vaccine, you know, within the first year that it's been available.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: The system did detect the thrombosis or thrombocytopenia syndrome or TTS associated with the J and J, as well as more recently the increase in Guillaume Baret syndrome, also associated with the J and J, and the myocarditis pericarditis associated with mRNA vaccines.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: However, all of these events are extremely rare, and the overall potential benefit of the vaccines, you know, continues to outweigh the risk.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: And luckily, you know, people that may be in a higher risk group or one vaccine have the opportunity to get a different vaccine if they're concerned.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Wright, can you please describe the benefits of making COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare personnel a condition of employment?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think that the vaccination as a condition of employment using COVID vaccination is similar to what we've looked at for flu vaccination.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: It has the opportunity to improve safety for both patients and healthcare personnel.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: And we haven't historically been able to achieve this, for example, with flu vaccination, without a lot of work and difficulty maintaining levels that were above 60 or 70%.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: And for the institutions that have had success to the 90% and above level, it's been an ongoing effort, I think, to sustain that.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: So making a vaccination a condition of employment is a way to make it a persistent change.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I think that healthcare personnel should demonstrate their willingness to take the vaccine to help protect patients and visitors, but that remembering we also live in the community ourselves.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so our own vaccination helps us reach community protection levels and protects where we live as well.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Additionally, healthcare employs a large number of individuals and can help set the standard for other industries that will further improve herd immunity.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: But there are expectations that society has of us in healthcare that might not be true for other industries.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's really on us to take measures to prevent disease spread, especially during this pandemic, as part of our commitment to do no harm and to protect everyone who comes into our facilities.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: And we think about this while we're also acknowledging that, you know, that there are some healthcare personnel categories of professional staff more than others who may not have a choice of what they do for their jobs and how much they work.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so we want to make sure when we were looking at the data on this, that there was enough flexibility for institutions to take into account and apply thinking about condition of employment carefully and making sure that it's the best fit for their employees at this time and balancing that with the need to try to control COVID during the pandemic.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Dries, Dr.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew, do either if you have any additional comments.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: I would just add, I mean, I agree totally with what with what Dr.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: Wright was saying, and that I think, you know, every facility has to really look at kind of what their current situation is.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I think if if you're a facility that has already required other vaccines, it's a little bit easier to make this step.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: If you're a facility that hasn't, you know, I think you just have to do due diligence, you know, to make sure that you're communicating appropriately, you're involving kind of frontline staff in your communication and in some of your decision making, and you know, really take it step by step.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, this is not something that you can just, you know, put a policy into place and move forward.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like you really need to do all that preparation to do it right.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew, did the endorsing societies assess whether this position statement is prohibited by federal law or federal regulations?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, the endorsing societies carefully reviewed the currently available guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I encourage our podcast listeners to also acquaint themselves with information on the EEOC website, which was updated and the guidance is from May 28, 2021.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: It clearly states under point K1 that the federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, subject to, of course, the reasonable recommendation provisions.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, our listeners may ask, what are some of the reasonable recommendations?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: And these are also reflected on the EEOC website and provides guidance.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And this includes that an unvaccinated employee may wear a face mask, work at a social distance from co-workers, work on a modified shift, get periodic tests for COVID-19, given also an opportunity to telework and finally accept a reassignment.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: So all that information is provided on the EEOC website.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And the multi-society document also reflects this under the section legal consideration.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Drees, what exemptions, if any, should be allowed?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: If you could comment on that, that would be appreciated.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: So of course, there always will need to be consideration for medical contraindications.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, for COVID vaccines, they're pretty straightforward as there aren't very many true contraindications to all vaccines, really just a severe or immediate allergy to a vaccine are one of its components.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: You know, there may in addition be a few other reasons why you why you might want to allow a temporary deferral.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: You know, someone who recently had COVID and received monoclonal antibody, you know, you might want to allow them to defer or perhaps pregnancy.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: You know, although there have been now been tens of thousands of pregnant women who've been vaccinated and the vaccines have not been shown to cause any sort of adverse maternal or fetal outcome.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: You know, given that pregnant women were not initially included in the trials, I don't think it's unreasonable to allow women to defer until they're no longer pregnant, although they absolutely should be encouraged and allowed to be vaccinated.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: There may be other exemptions that are regulated by the ADA, Title VII, or you know, any applicable state laws.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: So you need to certainly have your legal and HR teams involved.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: And it's, I think overall it's just really important to have a clear, transparent, and consistent process for the employer to review these types of requests with, you know, the appropriate consultation, you know, with occupational health, legal and HR as well.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: And healthcare personnel who are declared exempt, you know, may, as Trini mentioned, may be required to comply with other accommodations such as masking, distancing, remote work.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Wright, can you please describe the methods to improve vaccine uptake by healthcare personnel and why SHA and the other endorsing societies recommended making receipt of a COVID vaccine a condition of employment?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for that question.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: We felt like this was really important to include to provide balance to the recommendations, but also to provide assistance because even if an institution decides to move forward with vaccination for COVID-19 as a condition of employment, it may take time to implement this and to get staff prepared.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: So in the interim, these are some strategies that could be used either alone or even to help staff feel more comfortable as to making this a condition of employment.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: So we reviewed many studies in the literature, not just for COVID-19 itself, but largely for influenza and other vaccinations like TDAP.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we summarized 18 of the most important studies that we could find that looked at nine categories of interventions, things like advertisements and promotions, educational materials, enhancing access, so making vaccine available on every shift and sometimes bringing vaccine clinics to employees where they are, as opposed to making them go to a central site and providing incentives and others.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the most successful institutions appear to use combinations of strategies and making it difficult to evaluate any one strategy by itself, but also showing about how this really needs to be a multi-pronged approach to work when it's not a condition of employment.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: And the institutions that were the most successful overall used soft mandates.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: And what I mean by that are things like requiring employees to actively decline.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: And then also a vaccination or masking mandate, as Dr.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Drees had mentioned, using masking for people who are exempt, this would be for people who would actively decline.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Our subgroup of the larger group felt that this was a particularly difficult strategy in the setting of COVID-19, since most institutions had used universal masking as an infection prevention strategy and might not really encourage anyone to improve their vaccination rates.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: So overall, I think the most important things to remember were a combination of strategies.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: If you were trying to really achieve similar rates above 90%, to think about soft mandates and that this was going to be a lot of work, but still worth trying.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew, can you comment on how this new policy should be implemented by individual hospitals or healthcare systems?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: The multi-society document provides information throughout the entire document and summarizes it under the section of implementation.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: A more in-depth implementation document is also being provided on the SHA website.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: First and foremost is for leaders of healthcare systems to engage with the healthcare personnel and also adhere to the principles of diversity equation as they work to implement a policy.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Our document also highlights the need for transparency to garner trusted healthcare personnel and also encourages the need for collaborative discussions with unions and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: I also would like our broadcast listeners to be aware that the EEOC website provides also certain details under K3 on how employers may encourage employees to be vaccinated without violating the YO laws.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: This includes raising awareness about the benefits of vaccine, educating about it, and also addressing questions and concerns healthcare personnel may have.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Wright, as we all know, we're currently providing the COVID vaccines under an FDA emergency use authorization.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why shouldn't we wait until full FDA approval before implementing this new position statement?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think that this is a question that we've all been grappling with because, on the one hand, it seems to make sense that it would be certainly easier to wait for full FDA approval and often read in the lay press about how some individuals say they would feel more comfortable if they waited until the vaccine had the full stamp of approval by the FDA.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: But when we looked at it, we saw that there's really more data available for COVID-19 vaccines that are currently authorized under the EUA than for any other vaccine at the time of approval.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's what's really missing is just information on the durability of protection because the vaccines have not been around for many years yet.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so in terms of safety data, we weren't sure that we would be getting much more than we've had already.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's something else that's a little bit difficult is that the timing of the FDA approval is unclear and it's a little bit of a moving target.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: And the other thing that is that if only one vaccine is approved from one company and there is a production issue, that that might delay community protection even further.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: And with the Delta variant becoming more prominent in the United States, it seems that the best way to prevent that would be by getting more people vaccinated now.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Making vaccination a condition of employment would definitely help with that in the healthcare setting and in the community.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew, do you have some additional comments you want to make in general?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: So healthcare systems also have to consider certain other issues.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: And when they roll out the document, some things to consider, of course, would be about cost and convenience.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, the vaccine should be free, easily obtainable by healthcare personnel working at different locations, different sites, different ships.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that's important to factor.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Also, healthcare systems need to also consider workers' compensation to cover adverse events since vaccine will be a condition of employment.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Furthermore, we also need to factor the equitable access to information by healthcare personnel.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the forms and information need to be in different languages, including Spanish and other languages that healthcare personnel will need access to.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Healthcare personnel will also have opportunity to choose different types of vaccines if this comes as a condition of employment.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: And furthermore, future boosters, what would be the requirements?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: So health systems, I would say, need to be resilient, need to be able to pivot and change their policies and procedures if they're going to be implementing condition of employment, COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Dries, do you have any final comments you would like to make?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: Just that, you know, I think, you know, it's it's obviously been a whirlwind.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: There's been lots of changing information at all times, and keeping up with that has been a challenge.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_03: But I think, you know, again, the vaccines have, you know, really consistently been shown to be very safe and effective.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, moving in this direction is the right thing for us to do.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wright, any final comments?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: I agree with Dr.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Matthew and and Dr.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Drees.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think the one thing that I've learned during COVID is about flexibility and humility and trying to meet our staff where they are.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I think if we approach COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment from that same mindset, we will hopefully be helping to educate all of our staff and realizing the benefits that we can provide.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And it may take a little bit for every facility to get there, and that's okay as long as we're all working toward the same goal.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank our three excellent speakers for sharing their perspectives on this multi-society statement.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast can be accessed on your SHA Online Education Center, Learning CE, under the Rapid Response Program.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: On this website, you will also find other resources which include recorded webinars such as the SHAY COVID 19 Town Hall.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: This concludes today's episode of the Rapid Response Podcast.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you all for tuning in.