Information requested by El Paso Politics under the Texas Public Information Act shows that a significant number of University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) employees have declined the Coronavirus vaccine. There have been several reports of healthcare workers declining to be vaccinated across the country. According to the Los Angeles Times, hospitals have reported that at least 40 percent of healthcare workers have declined the vaccine.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 27% of the American population is hesitant about receiving the vaccine. The same survey found that 29%, of healthcare workers are also hesitant about the vaccines.

Among the reasons for the hesitancy in accepting the vaccine is the lack of data on the vaccine and cultural reasons among minorities.

In El Paso, there have been several reports about the lack of availability of the vaccine and technical glitches in scheduling a shot. The University Medical Center of El Paso, along with the City of El Paso are the two largest local entities administering doses of the vaccine.

According to information provided to us by UMC, under the Texas Public Information Act, about 493 UMC employees have declined the vaccine.

Another 65, or so, have not received the vaccine due to not being eligible for the vaccine. The lack of eligibility is not defined because of healthcare privacy laws.

According to UMC, 2,732 of their associates have been vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine.

El Paso Politics will be reporting further details about the UMC vaccination program we found through our open records requests in upcoming reports.

Martin Paredes

Martín Paredes is a Mexican immigrant who built his business on the U.S.-Mexican border. As an immigrant, Martín brings the perspective of someone who sees México as a native through the experience...

7 replies on “Almost 500 UMC Staff Decline Vaccine”

  1. It worries me that healthcare workers are refusing the vaccine. Makes me think I should wait to get mine. You should do a follow up on why they are refusing it.

  2. A vaccine is a preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen, such as a virus or bacterium. This so called “vaccine” does not contain such. It is messinger RNA in which the long term effects are unknown.

  3. Where us the data proving your claim and how did you request it? From what entity was the request made from and to? Show and prove.

  4. I wonder what if anything UMC (or any other hospital) plans to do about it. For instance, most hospitals require staff to get the influenza vaccine or else wear a mask for the entirety of the influenza season.

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