American Nurses Association Adds COVID-19 Vaccines to Longstanding Position on Immunization
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Shannon McClendon
301-628-5391
shannon.mcclendon@ana.org
Zachary Levine
301-628-5071
zachary.levine@ana.org
SILVER SPRING, MD – The American Nurses Association’s (ANA) longstanding position for all nurses and health care professionals to be immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases now includes the three COVID-19 vaccines being administered under the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process. The ANA Board of Directors unanimously approved our position that all nurses should get vaccinated unless they have a medical issue that makes vaccination unadvisable. This position extends only to the three vaccines currently available under EUA and does not extend to any future COVID-19 vaccines that might become available under the EUA process.
ANA believes that the safety profiles of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are stable and that the effectiveness of these vaccines in preventing the spread of COVID-19, as well as in mitigating the risk of emerging variants, has been proven.
Nurses working in a variety of health care settings across the nation are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and over the past few months, the number of nurses who have been vaccinated has increased. In a survey of over 22,000 nurses conducted by the American Nurses Foundation (the Foundation) between January 19 through February 16, 70% of nurses said they had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. Most recently, in a survey of over 4,500 nurses conducted by the COVID-19 Facts For Nurses Campaign between April 12 through May 4, 83% of nurses reported that they had received the recommended dose regimen of two COVID-19 vaccine shots. ANA applauds nurses who are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as nurses have a professional and ethical obligation to model health maintenance, wellness behaviors prevention measures they prescribe to patients, families, and communities.
ANA supports the Biden administration’s extraordinary efforts toward achieving its goal of getting the U.S. population fully vaccinated. ANA continues to encourage all individuals to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and follow the recommendations of public health officials as new cases of the highly contagious delta variant surge in many communities. Vaccinations are one of our greatest public health achievements and are critical to continue stemming the spread and resulting disease, disability and death related to COVID-19.
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About the American Nurses Association (ANA)
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is the premier organization representing the interests of the nation's 4.2 million registered nurses. ANA advances the profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting a safe and ethical work environment, bolstering the health and wellness of nurses, and advocating on health care issues that affect nurses and the public. ANA is at the forefront of improving the quality of health care for all. For more information, visit www.nursingworld.org