CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during an interview on Sunday that “there is a plan” to get unvaccinated essential workers “education and counseling” so they will feel comfortable getting vaccinated.
“As you know, there are cases where police officers or health workers or pilots are walking off the job, rather than get the vaccine,” Fox News host Chris Wallace said. “Are you still full speed ahead on mandates for essential workers to get vaccinated?”
“We have seen that these mandates are getting more and more people vaccinated,” she said. “Here’s what we know, the most disruptive thing that you can do to workforce is to have a COVID outbreak in that workforce. That will most definitely not only send people home, but it will send people to the hospital and some may pass. What we know from the police workforce is that there have been more deaths from the coronavirus over the last year and a half than all other causes of death for that workforce combined. So, we believe it is very important to get these people vaccinated.”
Walensky added, “There is a plan should these people not want to be vaccinated towards education and counseling to get people the information they need so that they are feeling comfortable in getting vaccinated.”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Now, mandates by government by private companies have, of essential workers, generally work, you see a big boost in vaccinations, even though there may be some grousing. But as you know, there are cases where police officers or health workers or pilots are walking off the job, rather than get the vaccine. Are you still full speed ahead on mandates for essential workers to get vaccinated?
ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We have seen that these mandates are getting more and more people vaccinated. Here’s what we know, the most disruptive thing that you can do to workforce is to have a COVID outbreak in that workforce. That will most definitely not only send people home, but it will send people to the hospital and some may pass. What we know from the police workforce is that there have been more deaths from the coronavirus over the last year and a half than all other causes of death for that workforce combined. So we believe it is very important to get these people vaccinated. There is a plan should these people not want to be vaccinated towards education and counseling to get people the information they need so that they are feeling comfortable in getting vaccinated.
WALLACE: But what about the argument that we’re talking about public health here. And if you [inaudible] and we’ve seen some real resistance, for instance, in the Chicago Police Department, in the interest of public health on vaccinations, if you have a large part of a police force leaving, in terms of public health, aren’t you further behind the ball rather than having made gains?
WALENSKY: You know, the way you can down a police force is by having a COVID outbreak in that police force. So what we’re working to do is mitigate that from happening.