Background of the issue
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than one and a half million people, and the death is only expected to rise if no appropriate measures will be taken. One of such measures is vaccination, yet it is still impossible to ensure that citizens receive their dose since there cannot be a law that would make it obligatory for everyone to get vaccinated. Nevertheless, there are certain steps policymakers can make to protect the most vulnerable segments of society, namely the elderly and people with disabilities.
Define the Problem
Old age has been recognized as the main risk factor since the beginning of the pandemic, and studies support this, one of them shows that 116 out of 1000 people in their seventies will die of COVID-19 (Mallapaty, 2020). Persons with disabilities are another group that is likely to become victims of the new virus since such individuals can struggle with communicating their health problems due to their condition. Moreover, both of these demographics tend to have illnesses, including chronic ones, such as diabetes, which is linked to a worse prognosis and a higher risk of mortality (Apicella et al., 2020).
The elderly and people with disabilities are the main residents of nursing homes where they become particularly vulnerable to the virus because they daily interact with the staff who may have the disease. According to the statistics, as of December 2020, in 13 states, the older adults constituted half or more than half COVID-19 fatalities (The New York Times, 2020). Apart from old age and underlying health conditions, another contributor to a higher death rate is the size of such facilities.
The virus is more likely to spread in small places with many people in them. According to one study, there are 2.16 million elderly and sick people in long-term care, this number is extremely large and shows how many people are at risk (Gardner, 2020).
Nursing homes residents spend all of their time at the facilities, and their family members cannot visit them due to the COVID-19 restrictions. This fact suggests that the staff of such facilities, as the only individuals who have contact with the outside world, may be responsible for spreading the virus inside nursing homes. Thus, this problem must be addressed by the officials who can introduce appropriate measures such as compulsory vaccination for nursing homes’ staff.
Meaning and Findings of the Data
There are numerous studies on the subject of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the elderly population and people with disabilities, as well as on the situation in nursing homes. For example, according to a study that compared individuals with COVID-19 under and over 70 years old, the latter group was more likely to develop health complications and die than the former (Zhang et al., 2020). Another research from Sweden demonstrated that out of 255 patients who were subjects of study, 70 died, and 90% of them were elderly, aged 65 and older (Tehrani et al., 2021). According to the data provided in a study by Turk et al. (2020), the fatality rate for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) was higher or similar to those without IDD (Turk et al., 2020). Research conducted by Abrams et al. (2020), who studied the characteristics of nursing homes with COIVD-19 outbreaks, found that larger facilities and those located in the urban area were most prone to having cases of the disease (Abrams et al., 2020). According to statistics, as of August 2020, 42% percent of all the COVID-19 fatalities occurred in nursing homes (Girvan, 2020).
The findings of the aforementioned studies suggest that elderly people and persons with disabilities are objectively at a high risk of dying from COVID-19. The data presented show a disproportionately high number of deaths from the virus occur in nursing homes, which again demonstrates how vulnerable their residents are. The nursing homes are particularly likely to have cases of COVID-19 if they are located in urban areas. This makes it possible to theorize that the staff living in the city who leave the premises of the facility may be the ones responsible for spreading the virus. Moreover, a study by Chen et al. (2020) found several cases when staff who worked at different nursing homes were responsible for spreading the deadly virus in these facilities.
Recommendations and Help (what you want from your chosen representative)
Because the COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available for the public, officials must make getting it compulsory for the staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Due to the high mortality rate among residents of these institutions, saving their lives and protecting their health must become a priority for the government. Achieving it is possible only with the help of the vaccine since currently there are no other effective means available for countering the virus and its effects on the human organism.
The majority of the nursing homes’ staff are responsible citizens and medical professionals who are aware of the consequences of COVID-19 for the elderly and people with disabilities. Yet, despite this fact, some of them may be opposed to the idea of getting vaccinated with a drug that has been developed over mere months. Nevertheless, the studies show that the vaccine is effective and can be used safely (BBC, 2020). Providing it to nursing homes’ staff and making it obligatory for them to get is a reasonable solution in the face of the rising death toll among the elderly and people with disabilities.
I ask for your help to advance the policy, which would require nursing homes staff to get vaccinated since they may pose a considerable risk to the health of their clients. Making vaccination compulsory for them will ensure a safer environment for the elderly and people with disabilities.
References
Abrams, H. R., Loomer, L., Gandhi, A., & Grabowski, D. C. (2020). Characteristics of U.S. Nursing Homes with COVID‐19 Cases. Disability and Health Journal, 68(8), 1653–1656.
Apicella, M., Campopiano, M. C., Mantuano, M., Mazoni, L., Coppelli, A., & Del Prato, S. (2020). COVID-19 in people with diabetes: Understanding the reasons for worse outcomes. The Lancet, 8(9), 782–792.
BBC. (2020). Covid: FDA approves Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in US. BBC.
Chen M., K., Chevalier, J., A., & Long, E., F. (2020). Nursing home staff networks and COVID-19. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Gardner, W., States, D. & Bagley, N. (2020). The Coronavirus and the risks to the elderly in long-term care. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 32(4-5), 310–315.
Girvan, G. (2020). Nursing homes & assisted living facilities account for 42% of COVID-19 deaths. FREOPP.
Mallapaty, S. (2020). The coronavirus is most deadly if you are older and male — new data reveal the risks. Nature.