COVID-19 is nation's biggest cop killer, yet many officers are vaccine resistant

A Homeland Security officer in Georgia and a deputy sheriff in Kentucky are among the nearly two dozen law enforcement officers who died last month of COVID-19, now the leading cause of job-related deaths among U.S. police professionals. Yet even as COVID-19 kills far more cops than gunfire, those whose duty it is to serve and protect the public are among the most resistant to getting vaccinated.

From California to New York, unions representing law enforcement are fighting requirements that members get immunized against the coronavirus, which has killed more than 500 officers since the pandemic began. While law enforcement officers were among the first front-line workers to be offered coronavirus vaccines, their vaccination rates by most accounts remain at or below the public at large. 

While Americans employed in law enforcement are not alone in resisting vaccination, the outcry from their ranks to vaccine mandates has been particularly virulent. Unions and others speaking for police officers are taking umbrage as some U.S. cities and counties enact vaccine mandates for government employees.