New York state-based Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo is requiring all staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in a two-phase approach. Vaccinations will be mandatory with the exception of staff members who have approved medical or religious exemptions.
More than 80% of the organization’s staff have been vaccinated thus far. Prior to the mandate, the hospice strongly encouraged vaccinations among employees. The second phase follows the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The hospice’s policy change was in response to growing concern about the pandemic’s continued spread, largely due to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.
“Keeping staff, patients and their families safe and healthy is the top priority and obligation for the organization. As a trusted health care provider, we must do even more to protect our extremely vulnerable patients as well as our colleagues. The mandatory vaccination is consistent with this obligation,” said Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo’s CEO and chief medical officer Christopher Kerr, M.D.
The COVID-19 pandemic has ended the lives of nearly 648,000 people in the United States since its onset, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Though the outbreak seemed to subside in recent months due to widespread vaccination, multiple variants of the virus have sparked renewed surges nationwide. Close to 99% of the recent deaths occurred among the unvaccinated, according to CDC.
New York has been among the states hardest hit by the deadly virus, ranking third nationwide at more than 54,100 total deaths from COVID-19, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report. Only California and Texas came in higher at 65,446 and 55,839 deaths, respectively.
Hospice utilization among Medicare decedents ran low in the Empire State at 30% during 2018, compared to the national average just above 50% that year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo serves more than 1,000 patients and families daily across the Erie County area of New York. The nonprofit organization has seen a rising number of coronavirus cases, and in May 2020 reopened an inpatient unit to care for COVID-19 patients.
Community transmission of COVID-19 runs high in Erie County. The CDC reported more than 1,250 cases and 14 related deaths in that county within the last week alone. A little more than 67% of the area’s population has been vaccinated, according to the CDC.
“Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo’s important step to mandate COVID-19 vaccine for all staff will protect their patients, their families, and the staff who provide such important clinical care in our community,” said Gale Burstein, M.D., commissioner of health for Erie County. “A system change such as this creates a meaningful public health intervention that significantly reduces the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
Of the multiple variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 circulating globally and within the United States, four are classified as a variant of concern (VOC), the CDC recently reported. These include the delta and gamma variants, as well as alpha and beta.
A little more than 52% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, which reported a 3.33% increase in administered doses this week compared to last. Despite rising vaccination rates nationwide due to availability and access, more will be needed to curb the spread of pandemic.
“I believe our organization has a moral obligation to ensure safety, and COVID-19 vaccination can reduce viral transmission thereby promoting health and safety, and to provide care for patients and do no harm,” said Kerr. “Vaccination would reduce harm by limiting the spread of COVID-19 infection.”
Companies featured in this article:
Kaiser Family Foundation, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
