Plain and simple: Vaccines work (police and firefighters edition)

 

Sources:  Mayo Clinic (top), New York Times (bottom)

 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/31/2022

One factor that isn't considered is an officer's vaccination status, Ferranto said. 

The vaccination status of individual police officers and firefighters, even those who have died from the virus, isn't publicly available information. Each department contacted for this story that had a line-of-duty death after vaccines were available declined to share the vaccination status of the person who died.  [emphasis added]

In Wisconsin, the state's police union has encouraged officers to get vaccinated, "recognizing that according to all the best information available, that's the best way to protect themselves, as well as members of the public," said Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. 

The association has helped facilitate on-duty vaccinations of police officers or, as an alternative, periodic testing for officers who aren't vaccinated, he said.

New York Times, 10/12/2021 (red box added)

While the virus has ravaged policing, persuading officers to take a vaccine has often been a struggle, even though the shots have proven to be largely effective in preventing severe disease and death. [emphasis added]

Some elected officials say police officers have a higher responsibility to get vaccinated because they are regularly interacting with members of the public and could unknowingly spread the virus. The debate echoes concerns from earlier in the pandemic, when police officers in some cities resisted wearing masks in public.

Related reading:

Washington Post, 10/31/2020