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Lebanon hospital working to confirm how many employees received COVID-19 vaccinations

The director of infection control at Witham Health Services figures at least 50 percent of employees have been vaccinated, but he wishes that number were higher.

LEBANON, Indiana — Nearly 200,000 Hoosiers have received their second and final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Many are health care workers, but 13News found some hospitals and other health care facilities are taking an educated guess when it comes to how many employees have received the vaccine and how many said "no thanks" to the shots.

Registered nurse Gene Davis is the director of infection control for Witham Health Services in Lebanon.

"The best guess I can give you is what we are tracking in-house," Davis said. "We are probably vaccinating the majority of our own employees."

Davis figures at least 50 percent of employees have been vaccinated, although he prefers the number was higher. "I've spoken with other health care organizations who are completely in the dark." 

Because the vaccines are still considered experimental, some hospitals are not making them mandatory. Furthermore, while employers can easily keep track of employees who are vaccinated on-site, that's not the case if they're vaccinated elsewhere.

"If they go somewhere else, they are not required to share that vaccination information with us," Davis said.

According to Davis, a number of the hospital's 1,000 workers have contracted COVID-19. They are waiting the recommended three months to receive a vaccination.

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One case stood out. "Their concern was that they wanted to make sure someone who was older — such as their own parents — could get the vaccination," Davis said. 

By some national surveys, roughly one-third of health care workers were either considering or had definitely decided against getting vaccinated.

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