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While local health officials urged the public and essential workers to get vaccinated, many OC frontline security staff have refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, refusing injections at high rates. higher than other public servants and the general public.
With firefighters and sheriff’s deputies in close contact with the public during medical calls, arrests and jail time, senior county health officials say getting vaccinated to protect themselves is crucial and protect vulnerable members of the community.
“It’s not something to be taken lightly. I need everyone to really think about the vaccine. And we need our workers, our core workers, our heroes on the front lines – to protect themselves so they can continue to protect the community, ”said Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong, Deputy Health Worker. county, in a conference call with reporters Friday. .
But six months after being eligible for vaccines, only 16% of OC Sheriff staff said they had been vaccinated against COVID at the end of June, the latest official data has been made available.
At the county’s largest firefighting agency, the OC Fire Authority, 53% of frontline workers were vaccinated during the authority’s vaccination events, although the agency does not have figures for those who have been vaccinated elsewhere.
Both agencies say they are taking other steps to protect the public. County CEO Frank Kim said sheriff’s staff in prisons and other health care facilities should get tested weekly if they haven’t been vaccinated.
Fire Authority officials say their unvaccinated staff are not required to be tested, but that all staff wear protective equipment called PPE when interacting with the public.
In addition, agency heads say Any staff member who develops symptoms of COVID are tested, and if positive, they are discharged home and all close contacts are tested as well.
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Firefighters refused the vaccine for several reasons, according to their union president, including agreeing to after being exposed to residents infected with Covid, and having natural immunity to COVID earlier in the pandemic.
“A lot of my members have had COVID. We have worked on the front lines with people who are sick without a vaccine, ”said Todd Baldridge, president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, in an interview with Voice of OC.
“I think there are two groups there. One group is, ‘I [worked] when it was bad, and I didn’t have a vaccine and that’s okay. And the other group is, “I got it, I have natural immunity to it, and why do I get the vaccine?” “”
Asked about community concerns that frontline workers are at a higher risk of accidentally spreading COVID if they are not vaccinated, Baldridge said that was not true.
“This is a false story, because you can be vaccinated and spread it too,” he added, noting that he has a master’s degree in public health.
“The most important thing is how serious this disaster is for a strong and fit 20-year-old firefighter. And I think they’re ready to get the flu rather than get the shot, and I think that’s their right.
Still, the county’s deputy health worker says vaccinations dramatically reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading, adding that natural immunity wears off over time and newer variants like omicron are more likely to break through.
“There are so many times when people who have had the disease are re-infected,” Chinsio-Kwong said on Friday’s call, adding that she recently spoke with the family of a non-policeman. vaccinated died of coronavirus.
“We need people who think they have natural immunity to get vaccinated as well. And we’ve heard and we’ve seen that receiving a reminder really protects you. “
Unvaccinated people are 6 times more likely to be infected with the coronavirus, Chinsio-Kwong said.
Getting the vaccine means “reducing the risk of spreading to others,” she added.
The president of the deputies’ union and the five county supervisors did not respond to phone calls or texts to comment on how the issue is unfolding among public security personnel.
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When asked through his spokesperson if he was concerned about the risks to staff and the public from unvaccinated staff interacting with the public, Sheriff Don Barnes replied that “Covid can be acquired anywhere in the community “.
“We have important work to do that cannot be done remotely. I am proud of our MPs who continue to show up every day and ensure the safety of our community, ”he added.
The office of Fire Chief Brian Fennessy did not answer the same question.
In a previous statement, Fire Authority officials have said they do not require frontline staff to be vaccinated for COVID and that they are not required to be tested regularly if they choose to do not get vaccinated.
But staff wear personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading, they noted.
“All staff who answer calls and come in contact with a patient should wear PPE that protects both our patient staff and the patient of our staff,” said a statement from Captain Greg Barta, spokesperson for the Fire Authority.
MPs and firefighters’ unions opposed vaccination warrants, saying they defended the right of every employee to make medical decisions for themselves.
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It is a challenge to get up-to-date vaccination rates for the public safety workforce.
OC Sheriff spokeswoman Carrie Braun said the department did not have information on how many of their employees said they had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
She noted that the data is collected by the county’s central human resources office, under the leadership of CEO Frank Kim, although Kim’s office did not provide the numbers within two weeks after Voice of OC began. to ask for them at the beginning of December.
While other agencies report data on self-reported vaccinations, the Fire Authority’s statement says they do not have data on people vaccinated by means other than at agency clinics.
When asked if the county faces a higher risk of liability due to a large number of unvaccinated sheriff’s staff interacting with the public, Kim said the county was following all health rules of State.
“The county is fully compliant with state-established Covid protocols for law enforcement officers,” Kim told Voice of OC via text message.
“Depending on the needs, we offer either vaccination or weekly tests when the order of the State requires it. “
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The sheriff’s department had the lowest self-reported vaccination rate among county employees based on the latest data available for August.
It is not known how much this has increased since then, given the lack of data released by the county.
However, the sheriff’s staff is by far the largest share of pandemic workers compensation costs the county has paid so far, according to county data obtained through a request for registration by Voice of OC.
Among Orange County workplaces with active COVID outbreaks this summer were the Central Jail and the Sheriff’s Department Headquarters complex in Santa Ana, according to county data.
At the start of the pandemic, Ken Caley, retired OC Fire Authority firefighter death of coronavirus at age 59. And in January, Garden Grove Police Lt. John Reynolds died of complications from coronavirus, according to its department.
Coronavirus infections at work were the leading cause of death for U.S. police officers last year as well as the first semester of this year.
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Richard Carpiano, a public health scientist at UC Riverside who previously worked as an emergency medical technician, said it was tragic to see so many first responders refuse to be vaccinated.
“They are crucial to the community, so their health and safety must be paramount,” Carpiano said of firefighters and police.
“Their chance of getting COVID is quite high, much higher than someone who works from home … the chance for them to pass, to be what we would call a vector, is also quite high,” he said. he adds.
“It doesn’t just endanger workers – firefighters, police and paramedics – it also puts the community and their families at risk. At the end of the day, these people go home.
Voice of OC editor Spencer Custodio contributed reporting for this article.
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