450 hospital employees receive COVID vaccinations

Since Sheridan Memorial Hospital opened the COVID-19 vaccinations center a little over a month ago, over 2,400 vaccinations have been given, and about 450 of those have been hospital employees.

That’s according to Dr. John Addlesperger, the hospital’s chief medical officer, in a report to hospital trustees this week.

He said that’s about 63 percent of the eligible employees that were offered the vaccine. He talked about why the remaining employees haven’t yet been vaccinated.

Addlesperger said he thinks over time, more of those employees will get the vaccine.

Another reason for employees to not be vaccinated at this time, he said, is there are a number of employees who are pregnant. He said at this time, there is not good data available about the safety of the vaccine for those who are pregnant.

He said those are the two biggest groups who haven’t yet been vaccinated. In addition, he said, there are people who are taking a “wait and see” approach to the vaccine.

Dr. Addlesperger said the hospital has taken steps to educate the staff as much as possible, including open forums in which a panel of providers discuss what’s known about the vaccine and its safety.