Miami, Florida – Despite the number of officers who have been lost to COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy still remains in law enforcement.
“Not knowing what the impact would be later on, the long term impact of the vaccination. That’s the purpose of my hesitation,” said the City of Miami Maj. Albert Guerra.
Guerra got his first shot Thursday at a vaccine drive organized by the Association of Miami-Dade Police Chiefs and the Miami Heat at FTX Arena. For him, the final push came by way of his father who was seriously ill with COVID. He spent 18 days in the hospital — at times on a respirator — and survived.
“[I asked him], ‘Would you have taken the vaccine knowing what you know now?’ And he said yeah. So that pretty much changed my mind,” Guerra said.
According to organizers, about 10 police officers got their shot at the one-day event.
El Portal Police Chief David Magnusson is a big vaccine advocate.
“More cops have died in the line of duty from COVID than from gunshots and traffic crashes, which are always one and two, combined for the past two years,” he said.
He doesn’t believe in vaccine mandates, but he believes in respectful debate and blames misinformation for the low vaccination rates in law enforcement.
Magnusson is urging officers in South Florida to do their research and verify where it’s coming from.
“We’re supposed to protect and serve,” Magnusson said. “We can’t do either if we’re laid up in quarantine or we’re laid up in a hospital on a respirator.”
