Floyd Releases Statement Concerning COVID-19 Vaccine

Floyd issued the following statement today after news reports questioned the appropriateness of it providing the COVID-19 vaccine to some family members of employees:

• Floyd received all its COVID-19 vaccine doses as a Closed POD site.
• Due to our Closed Point of Distribution (POD) vaccine distribution agreement, Floyd does not believe that it has vaccinated any family members of health care workers inappropriately.
• The documentation and application for Closed POD vaccination sites allows for giving the vaccine to family members and includes a formula for determining how many family members of health care workers could receive the vaccine.
• Floyd has abided by the Closed POD agreement, which also includes vaccines for staff, volunteers and contracted staff, and again family members of staff.
• However, when the state clarified and indicated that they were insisting on strict adherence to the Tier 1A+ guidelines three weeks ago, we immediately came into compliance with that clarification.
• Floyd was honest and open regarding administration of vaccines to family members of employees and we believe we have operated in compliance with our agreement.  Given the State’s clarification, we ceased vaccinating family members, with the exception of providing second doses to those who began a vaccine series.
• Floyd’s decision to vaccinate family members was one of many efforts focused on limiting absences of Floyd health care workers.
• At the time this decision was made, Floyd had record numbers of COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and it was important to ensure we had staff to care for those patients in addition to our ongoing patient population.
• Since the pandemic began, 30 percent of Floyd employees have missed work due to COVID-19 infection or exposure.
• Vaccinating family members limits the likelihood of absences of employees who have to stay at home to care for family members diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have to quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19.
• Floyd is a regional trauma center, neonatal intensive care center and the only provider of maternity services in our community. It is important that we have staff available to care for these patients.
• Since the first COVID-19 patient arrived at our hospital on Feb. 29, 2020, Floyd has been at the forefront of COVID care and innovation, providing plasma therapy and monoclonal antibody therapy to more patients than many larger hospitals in the country.
• Floyd is currently one of the few organizations in north Georgia to have the capability to store and refrigerate the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and we have stored and are continuing to store vaccine doses for the local department of public health.
• While Floyd is a closed POD site, At the request of the local Department of Public Health, Floyd is now assisting Public Health by providing space, personnel, technology and vaccines for members of the public to receive their doses of vaccine as they are available and according to Tier 1A+ guidelines.
• Floyd received a new allocation of vaccine from DPH today and we continue to actively recruit individuals who meet the Tier 1A+ criteria to receive the vaccine