NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — They were among the first allowed to get the COVID vaccine, so why does Nashville Fire say about half of its staff has declined to get a vaccination by now?
Nashville fire says 600 of its 1250 personnel have declined a vaccination.
Mark Young, the head of Nashville’s local IAFF fire union says it’s always been each employees personal choice.
"All I can do is encourage or believe that it’s the right thing to do, but it is still in individual choice," Young said.
But young shed light on what could be one cause for the low vaccination rate: he says according to the departments safety office, 301 out of 1250 NFD employees have at one point come down with COVID -- nearly one out of every four employees.
Young says while that number sounds high, it’s on par with other fire departments.
He says if a quarter of staff think they’ve already got antibodies because of a previous infection, turning down a vaccination may become more inderstandable.
Nashville Fire says their safety office is now getting calls from firefighters who declined the vaccine at first, who now say they want it, but they did not tell us how many staff that is.
