Only 25% of group home workers have gotten COVID-19 vaccines
A nurse prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine. lev radin / Shutterstock
About one in four group home workers have gotten at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine – far less than the 77% vaccination rate for residents at group homes housing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the New York Post reports.
Nearly 40% of workers have declined to get inoculated, according to data from the state Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, while just 10% of residents have done the same. Those low rates are largely because of vaccine hesitancy and a desire to wait and see others get inoculated first, according to a spokeswoman from the state agency.
Low vaccination rates among group home staff are particularly concerning given research from October indicating that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in group homes seemed to be more likely to die from COVID-19. However, studies on COVID-19’s impact on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been limited by a lack of medical data on them.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are increasingly scrutinizing the state’s policies surrounding COVID-19 in group homes. Mirroring another controversial directive put in place for nursing homes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration had put in place policies that had group homes take COVID-19 positive residents.