When Dr. Kurt Graham realized the “perilously low” vaccination rate at his facility, he implored his co-workers to take a shot.
He’s the medical director at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Fredericksburg, which deals with patients recovering from strokes or physical deterioration after long hospital stays.
He learned on Monday that only about 42 percent of Encompass staff had been vaccinated, a rate comparable to what he’s heard anecdotally for health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes in the Fredericksburg area. He immediately penned a letter to staff, saying he was reluctant to ask them to step outside their comfort zone, but even more worried about seeing them or patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
“We are at a critical point,” he wrote, urging them to “please” get vaccinated. “You, individually and as a group, are the bricks which will provide a stronger defense.”
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As the vaccine supply has increased in the Fredericksburg area, state and nation, demand has declined to the point that state officials are relying on more medical providers to get out the vaccination message.
More vaccine is going to local primary care providers as well as to facilities like Encompass, where Graham said later in the week that the in-house vaccination rate had climbed to 59 percent. “Not on target, but improving,” he said.
Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, believes many “who may not trust the government” about vaccines will be more apt to listen to a pastor, community leader or doctor.
“Survey after survey shows that it’s your primary care provider that you trust to make health decisions, and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to have those discussions with their [providers] and then to get vaccinated if they choose,” he said.
The shift is in addition to the state’s plan to make getting a vaccine as convenient as possible to those who don’t want to wait in line or be bothered with exhaustive preregistration forms. Along with the rest of the state, the Rappahannock Area Health District—which includes Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford—is offering shots without appointments. Anyone interested can walk in—or drive up to a drive-thru event—without registering in advance.
Dozens of pharmacies and grocery stores are offering vaccinations as well, and CVS Health touted last week that its 342 locations across Virginia have open slots “as soon as one hour from time of scheduling,” according to a press release.
In more remote areas, public health workers are focused on sending outreach teams to individual neighborhoods and communities to remove any barriers that might hinder them from getting vaccinated. Currently, about 46 percent of Virginians have received at least one dose of vaccine, which is considerably under the targeted 70 percent to 75 percent.
“The way to get back to all the things we are missing is to get the population vaccinated,” said April Achter, population health coordinator with the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, which includes Culpeper, Fauquier and Orange counties. “The concern I have is that residents will opt out of getting the vaccine, and that places our community at risk. When we think about measles or mumps, vaccines are the reason they are no longer endemic in our country, and we need to think about this vaccine the same way.”
SAFER THAN ASPIRIN
Currently, 45 primary care providers in the Rappahannock Area Health District are offering COVID-19 vaccines.
“There are a lot, which is great,” said Mary Chamberlin, public relations specialist with the local health district. More are coming onboard all the time.
The vaccine hasn’t been approved for those age 12 and up, but emergency authorization is expected this month. All but two pediatric offices in the local health district already have signed up to administer vaccines, Chamberlin said. Others on the list include family doctors and general practitioners as well as those who specialize in asthma, cancer and treatments of the liver.
The list is available at vdh.virginia.gov/Rappahannock/medical-practices-providing-covid-19-vaccines.
Dr. Mitzi Sampson at Central VA Family Medicine in Fredericksburg filled out paperwork in January for vaccines and gave her first shots on April 1. She’s addressed many concerns from patients, including the type of vaccine, how quickly it was created and how it operates.
She tells them it’s a messenger RNA vaccine, meaning it teaches cells how to make a protein to fight against the virus. It doesn’t attach itself to a person’s DNA or change the genetic makeup, she said.
In public health, Achter tells people that while the COVID vaccine is new, the messenger RNA technology has been around. “This vaccine was created with speed but not rushed,” she said.
At Encompass, when patients bring up blood clots associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Graham notes that no medicine or treatment is perfect. He points out that the COVID shots have fewer side effects than aspirin for the general public.
“The vaccine is, I think, safer than walking across the street,” he said.
‘HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND’
Sampson estimates she has about a 90-percent success rate in convincing people to get vaccinated because she asks everybody who comes into her office about it. She also takes time to correct the misinformation patients sometimes have.
“I think it makes a big difference if you inform people well, sit down with them face-to-face and just address their fears and worries and give good information, direct scientific information,” she said. “You really have to be willing to help people understand.”
Avula would agree—and add a dose of convenience to that prescription, especially for younger people. For instance, he wonders if parents would be more willing to get vaccinated at school clinics with their children or in their pediatricians’ office.
“I think we’re going to have to find more and more ways to make it ultra-convenient for that segment,” he said.