A doctor from the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas shared that more than half of the nurses in his unit do not want to receive and get vaccinated.

Houston Doctor Says More Than Half of the Nurses in His Unit Won't Get COVID-19 Vaccine
A nurse received COVID-19 vaccine after U.S. FDA granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Healthcare workers like nurses and doctors are the first in line to receive the vaccine. They must get vaccinated to protect themselves against the coronavirus amid the increasing infection rate in the country.

Nurses Don't Want To Get Vaccinated

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already identified the first group, called Tier 1A, to receive the vaccine. It includes the healthcare workers who provide medical care to patients, including nurses, to ensure that they are protected against the coronavirus.

According to a published article in Fox News, a doctor shared Wednesday that over 50 percent of the nurses in his unit at the United Memorial Medical Center do not want to get the vaccine. The doctor learned about this after a meeting with his nurses over the vaccine's arrival next week.

Dr. Joseph Varon told NPR News that the coronavirus had become a "political toy," and many nurses in his unit have no plan to get the vaccine for reasons that are "politically motivated."

Varon, who is the chief of critical care at the United Memorial Medical Center, is at the center of managing care for COVID-19 patients.

"Yesterday I had a - not a fight - but I had a friendly argument with more than 50 percent of my nurses, in my unit, telling me that they would not get the vaccine," he said.

He added: "Of course I pushed the concept that people should get vaccinated, and I asked, 'why not?' And, you know, at the end of the day, as I have said before, coronavirus has become a political toy, and most of the reasons why most of my people don't want to get the vaccine are politically motivated."

COVID-19 Vaccine Will Arrive Next Week

Healthcare workers in the United Memorial Medical Center will have access to the vaccine next week. But nurses are split in getting the vaccine.

There are nurses in the hospital who are wary of getting a vaccine, and there are others who are "very happy" and "actually kind of annoyed" they didn't make the first round of vaccination.

Read also: Moderna Commits To Deliver 6 Million COVID-19 Vaccines

According to a report, the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine contained about three million doses, with many more arriving in the coming weeks and months.

The COVID-19 vaccine of Pfizer-BioNTech would be given twice. The second shot would be given three weeks after receiving the first shot.

Meanwhile, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday revealed that 27 percent of those surveyed said they would probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine even if it is free and deemed safe.

Despite the hesitancy of other Americans, it was also found in the recent poll that the number of Americans, who want to get the vaccine, increased from 63 percent in September to 71 percent as of this time.

Alex Azar, Secretary of the Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday that the plan is to have 20 million Americans inoculated before the year ends, 50 million by the end of January, and 100 million vaccines by the end of February.