I am trying to feel out if anyone else has declined the Covid vaccine and feeling backlash or tension with other co-workers? I have never heard so much discussion regarding nurse receiving or declining a vaccine in the 12 years I've been a nurse. Not sure why it should even matter but, I am getting a lot of pressure about it. I do not see why I am "crazy " if I made the decision against receiving the vaccine. I also do not understand co-workers pushing the vaccine on me and others, or insisting we are out of our minds. This is coming from management level as well as staff nurses. I am just appalled at the treatment and many of us who have declined the vaccine have kept to ourselves. For me, personally, I made the choice not to get it and I was done at that. It's been a month into our hospital vaccines and people will not just shut up about it.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
18 hours ago, GrumpyRN said:
Two words; "Herd Immunity."
Not everyone had a Smallpox vaccination (I have) but that has been eradicated. We almost got rid of Measles but thanks to stupid people (yes I do mean stupid people) it is still causing deaths and suffering.
I think it was Samoa where the measles vaccine was reconstituted with some expired muscle relaxant as opposed to water, two young ones died, leading to some of the worst numbers of death in the recent measles outbreak (2019) vaccination rates dropped to around about 34%
Why does everything have to be about politics? Was this comment even necessary? There is nothing constructive about this comment. Thank you for providing your emotionally driven response.
6 hours ago, UndecidedDuke16 said:
Show me the studies that prove my statements are false.
There have been a lot of comments on this thread about ‘taking the time to learn the facts’ but no one is providing facts or data to back up their emotional responses.
Many responders on this thread seem to think that just because they have decades of experience in one specific field, or maybe don’t recognize that they don’t know how to emotionally work through the difficult year us nurses have had taking care of the patients who have suffered from Covid, or taking care of increased work loads with limited resources and budget cuts, which by the way is what we signed up for, they are all knowing in all areas of science and medicine, and that their opinions and emotional feelings trump factual information.
From what I see, most of the responders on these threads are grumpy old nurses with decades of practicing old outdated science under their belts trying to stay relevant by making new nurses and young minds feel like s***.
Oh, you got me pegged. I'm emotional and old. And I eat my young.
Thankfully the companies for whom I work are honoring the U.S. Surgeon General's statement that NO one should be mandating the COVID-19 vaccines.
One of our coworkers was rushed to the ER via ambulance the evening she got her first dose. Another coworker out of work for over a week due to severe side effects; thankfully both are OK now. A MedTech I know got infected after both doses, and unintentionally infected her husband; both got very sick, were on quarantine for two weeks, and now thankfully better.
I've been working with COVID-19 positive (as well as negative) patients since April 2020 without getting COVID-19.
For both faith and concerns over the long-term impact of vaccines rushed-to-market and NOT properly tested in terms of the number of test subjects and time frame, I continue to refuse to take the vaccine. Per Forbs, PennLive, and other news sources, I'm not alone; and I'm also not part of the minority.
Many responders on this thread seem to think that just because they have decades of experience in one specific field, or maybe don’t recognize that they don’t know how to emotionally work through the difficult year us nurses have had taking care of the patients who have suffered from Covid, or taking care of increased work loads with limited resources and budget cuts, which by the way is what we signed up for, they are all knowing in all areas of science and medicine, and that their opinions and emotional feelings trump factual information.
From what I see, most of the responders on these threads are grumpy old nurses with decades of practicing old outdated science under their belts trying to stay relevant by making new nurses and young minds feel like s***.
And with that paragraph you have a) lost the argument, b) shown your prejudices and c) show that you are willing to misrepresent facts.
Ad hominem attacks are never a good look when trying to prove your point. Yes I am a "grumpy old nurse." What gave it away? Perhaps my username? Which by the way was very carefully chosen.
Got to love the "decades of practicing old outdated science", when in doubt try to make experience a bad thing. So please tell me what "old outdated science" am I following?
At what point has anyone on here been "making new nurses and young minds feel like s***."? We have stated our opinion, we have given our reasons for that opinion and defended it against the most appalling ignorance and prejudice. So please, at least have the decency to just admit you were wrong.
One of our coworkers was rushed to the ER via ambulance the evening she got her first dose. Another coworker out of work for over a week due to severe side effects; thankfully both are OK now. A MedTech I know got infected after both doses, and unintentionally infected her husband; both got very sick, were on quarantine for two weeks, and now thankfully better.
I call BS. There are always going to be reactions so don't make it sound worse than it probably was. Anecdotal evidence is worthless.
29 minutes ago, pmabraham said:
I've been working with COVID-19 positive (as well as negative) patients since April 2020 without getting COVID-19.
And can I say PPE here? Or are you trying to say that you have gone in and been licking covid positive patients with no ill effects? My wife has been working with seriously ill covid patients since the beginning and has not caught it.
32 minutes ago, pmabraham said:
For both faith and concerns over the long-term impact of vaccines rushed-to-market and NOT properly tested in terms of the number of test subjects and time frame, I continue to refuse to take the vaccine.
I accept that if you feel it was rushed then yes you may feel you have a reason BUT that is not the case. Lots of testing done on the vaccines.
34 minutes ago, pmabraham said:
PennLive, and other news sources, I'm not alone; and I'm also not part of the minority.
Do you really get your healthcare advice from news programmes?
And with that paragraph you have a) lost the argument, b) shown your prejudices and c) show that you are willing to misrepresent facts.
Ad hominem attacks are never a good look when trying to prove your point. Yes I am a "grumpy old nurse." What gave it away? Perhaps my username? Which by the way was very carefully chosen.
Got to love the "decades of practicing old outdated science", when in doubt try to make experience a bad thing. So please tell me what "old outdated science" am I following?
At what point has anyone on here been "making new nurses and young minds feel like s***."? We have stated our opinion, we have given our reasons for that opinion and defended it against the most appalling ignorance and prejudice. So please, at least have the decency to just admit you were wrong.
I don't start by calling people I don't know liars. My coworkers had reactions verified by the coworker themselves. If you believe otherwise, that's your own attitude your eating which doesn't concern me in the least.
Yes, PPE silly beans. Why would I be in a room with several COVID-19 positive patients for a long period of time with them coughing on me without wearing PPE?
Now, I know doctors refusing the vaccine as well as other nurses. Medscape just came out with an article acknowledging the vaccines were rushed. Furthermore, NO FDA, non-EUA approved vaccines are using mRNA technology. That in itself makes these vaccines experimental.
Now you can be grumpy and be a part of the nurses eating other nurses or you can acknowledge others can have different points of view different than your own without stating they are bs/lying.
One of our coworkers was rushed to the ER via ambulance the evening she got her first dose.
A lot of people are rushed to EDs via ambulance. The reasons range from wanting a ride to that part of town to being in full arrest and everything in-between.
1 hour ago, pmabraham said:
A MedTech I know got infected after both doses, and unintentionally infected her husband; both got very sick, were on quarantine for two weeks, and now thankfully better.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
19 minutes ago, pmabraham said:
Now you can be grumpy and be a part of the nurses eating other nurses or you can acknowledge others can have different points of view different than your own without stating they are bs/lying.
We can also acknowledge when the stated viewpoints of others are based in anecdote and anxiety rather than in facts or expert scientific analysis of the data.
I don't start by calling people I don't know liars. My coworkers had reactions verified by the coworker themselves. If you believe otherwise, that's your own attitude your eating which doesn't concern me in the least.
Thank you for replying, if you have been following this thread it has developed into an us versus them, vaccine or not vaccine. From that point of view (page 7 now) you have joined the no vaccine side. I accept that there have been adverse reactions but you suddenly bringing them up in the manner you did (first post on this thread) seemed to me to be too convenient. Plus for people to have been so ill - "severe side effects," "rushed to the ER," "both very sick" - they seem to have made miraculous recoveries.
I apologise if you thought I was calling you a liar, I was casting doubt on the information you gave.
31 minutes ago, pmabraham said:
Medscape just came out with an article acknowledging the vaccines were rushed.
Apparantly you did not read the story, you have only read the headline.
The first paragraph;
Yes, the vaccines already authorized for emergency use against SARS-CoV-2 infection were developed relatively quickly. However, speediness does not equal sloppiness, and all necessary steps were taken in the process, experts said this week.
The article goes on to state that the 2 vaccines used are "safe and effective."
So in view of that do you wonder that I doubt the veracity of your information.
I suspect that the same would be true for microbiologists, or any other kind of scientist....
If you ask the same question in a bowling alley, you will get a very different set of opinions.
Exactly. I'm a sciencey kinda guy. The cockwomble in me merely wanted to point out that a significant portion of the nursinghood is very, very definitely not.
Tenebrae, BSN, RN
2,021 Posts
I think it was Samoa where the measles vaccine was reconstituted with some expired muscle relaxant as opposed to water, two young ones died, leading to some of the worst numbers of death in the recent measles outbreak (2019) vaccination rates dropped to around about 34%