COVID Now the Leading Cause of U.S. Law Enforcement Deaths
Washington DC Sept 15 2021 According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 182 law enforcement officers died of COVID-19 last year. Add the 71 officers who have died in the first half of this year from the virus, and COVID is now the leading cause of law enforcement officer line-of-duty fatalities.
The 71 deaths reported in the first six months of this year represent a slight decrease from the 76 COVID deaths reported during the same time period in 2020. In all, 132 members of U.S. law enforcement agencies are known to have died from COVID in 2021.
Despite the alarming rate of deaths, police officers and other first responders are some of the most hesitant Americans to get vaccinated for the coronavirus, and the number of their cases continues to rise, reports the Associated Press.
Although there aren’t any statistics on the vaccination rate for all U.S. first responders, individual police and fire departments across the nation say the rate of inoculation among their employees is much lower than the national rate of nearly 74% of adults who have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. For example, the Austin, Texas Police Department estimates about 50% of its force is vaccinated, reports KXAN. The Charleston, West Virginia Police Department says more than 50% of its employees have been vaccinated for COVID-19, reports WCHS.
Despite the high rate of deaths among law enforcement officers, national and local police unions are fighting vaccine mandates, reports KTLA.
When the vaccines received emergency authorization by the FDA, first responders were among the first to be authorized to receive the shot.
