As the US looks for ways to speed the administration of Covid-19 vaccines, some states and providers are pulling in dentists, retirees and students to aid in the process.
With health care workers stretched thin responding to record numbers of coronavirus hospitalizations, jurisdictions are scrambling to find extra hands with the skills to help get shots into arms. A report released by the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and National Governors Association in December cited 20 states that are considering recruiting non-traditional providers, including students, dentists, veterinarians and paramedics. On Monday, the California Department of Consumer Affairs approved an emergency waiver allowing dentists to administer Covid-19 vaccines. The move came as California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state’s plans to aggressively accelerate the pace of vaccination. The American Dental Association says dentists are cleared to give the vaccine in multiple states, including Oregon, where the first dentist in the US to administer a Covid-19 vaccine did so last month. « Dentists are already trained to provide injections in objectively more complex areas of the mouth that commonly have gag reflexes, major blood vessels, nerves and a moving tongue, » the California Dental Association said in a statement. Some health systems are tapping a well of newly trained students to aid in the vaccination effort. « It’s going to be a team of really smart and educated young people that are going to be our immunizers, » Susan Mashni, vice president and chief pharmacy officer for Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, said in December.
