needle in vaccine vial

As angry healthcare workers descended on Maine’s state house all week protesting a looming state COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Care & Comfort President and CEO Mike Stair worried about the toll the rule could take on his business.

The Waterville, ME-based company provides home healthcare, personal care and behavioral health services in 13 counties across Maine with nearly 400 employees. Stair is racing to determine how many employees are already vaccinated, need to be vaccinated or will be leaving their jobs because they refuse to get the vaccine.

Mike Stair, Care & Comfort

“We are scrambling to bolster cross-training because this will definitely affect patient care in a big way,” Stair told McKnight’s Home Care Daily.

Last week, Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced Maine would become the latest state to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all healthcare workers, effective Oct. 1. California, New York and the District of Columbia previously announced similar mandates and other states could follow. But Maine is unique. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it has the largest proportion of residents over the age of 65, a demographic that is more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.

“With this requirement, we are protecting healthcare workers, their patients, including our most vulnerable, and our healthcare capacity,” Mills said in a statement.  “I continue to strongly urge all Maine people to get vaccinated because doing so may save your life, the life of a family member or friend, or the life of a child not yet eligible for a vaccine.”

Along with an older population, Maine also has a smaller pool of younger workers. Its current 4.8% jobless rate is well below the national average, so there are potentially fewer workers in the market for jobs. Stair fears the vaccine mandate will exacerbate an already tight labor market if too many healthcare workers get sidelined because they don’t want to get the shots.

“I could easily put another 100 folks to work tomorrow. Our workforce shortage in Maine is the most severe in my professional career,” Stair said. “At this time, to take away a big chunk of that workforce is just so hard for us.”

The mandate requires healthcare workers to have the last shot in their arms two weeks before the Oct. 1 deadline, to ensure they will be fully protected from the virus while on the job. That means workers getting the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will need to get their first shots within the next couple of days. That could make it tough for many to meet the deadline.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 65% of Maine residents are fully vaccinated, but Stair said there aren’t solid numbers on vaccinated healthcare workers. He said estimates for that group range anywhere from 60% to 90%.

“That means anywhere from 10% to 40% may not be vaccinated and may be facing some really tough decisions with respect to whether they either get a vaccine, which is something they may struggle with, or they may have to choose to leave the line of work that they’ve chosen and that they hold dear,” Stair said.