Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Patrick Pellin of Austintown, an Ohio licensed funeral director and embalmer with Kinnick Funeral Home in Youngstown for the past 20 years, talks about the need for the COVID-19 vaccine for the funeral home industry while donning personal protective equipment gear next to an embalming table.

With the COVID-19 pandemic not showing signs of slowing, the Ohio Funeral Directors Association wants included in vaccine conversations.

When the vaccine rollout was announced, death care workers should have been included in “Phase 1A” alongside health care workers and first responders, according to an Oct. 2 publication by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

In a press release, the OFDA said it was calling on Gov. Mike DeWine to “ensure Ohio’s funeral directors and their employees be given immediate access to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“NASEM and the CDC’s Advisory Council on Immunization Practices both recommended that death care workers be placed into Phase 1A for vaccine allocation,” the release states.

OFDA Executive Director Melissa Sullivan said while the association appreciates how DeWine and his administration has been dealing with the pandemic and health care workers and first responders deserve priority for the vaccine, the people who deal with those who died due to COVID-19 are also at the forefront of the pandemic and “put themselves in harm’s way daily.”

“Although some protection is provided through PPE, exposure continues as they prepare bodies for disposition, console surviving family members and greet those attending funeral services,” Sullivan said.

She also said Ohio placed no limits on attendance at funerals, unlike other public gatherings, so personnel have to deal with a large number of attendees. Sullivan added despite complying with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, the potential for being a hub for the spread is concerning.

“Just as has been done in every other state surrounding Ohio, and 38 states in total, we strongly urge the governor to correct this oversight as soon as possible and amend Phase 1B to include funeral directors, embalmers and their staff for immediate vaccine distribution,” Sullivan said.

LOCAL SUPPORT

Funeral directors in Mahoning and Trumbull counties also have expressed their support for the inclusion.

Terry Reardon, of Higgins Reardon Funeral Home and past OFDA president, said he fully supports the association’s position.

“We have to meet people every day, and we’re exposed every day,” he said. “We can’t close our businesses. We’re front-line people, and we also want to protect the public. We want to make sure we are safe to the public and ensure anyone who interacts with us stays safe.”

Rossi & Santucci funeral director Joseph Carrier said the pandemic has taken a toll on these employees and said funeral professionals come into contact just as much, if not more, than those in the medical field.

“During this past year, not only have we seen an increase in deaths, but also families have been forced to grieve differently due to social-distance practices,” Carrier said. “While experiencing a busier workload, working longer hours and enforcing pandemic guidelines, funeral professionals have risen to the occasion in order to serve families. By the nature of our industry, funeral professionals come into contact with the virus and should be a top priority.”

Sterling-McCullough Williams Funeral Home Funeral Director Sterling Williams attributes the lack of inclusion to an oversight.

“I’m assuming and hoping it was an oversight. We’re on the front lines and are exposed just as much and still conducting funerals,” Williams said. “I endorse being included in the next phase.”

Funeral director and owner of Staton-Borowski Funeral Home, Bryan Borowski, questioned why funeral professionals weren’t included from the start.

“How they left us out is beyond me. I agree first responders and heath care workers should go first, but we should be right there,” he said.

Tom Kinnick of Kinnick Funeral Home, with locations in Youngstown and Girard, said as far as he knows, DeWine’s office has not responded to the OFDA’s request.

“Certainly we have difficult cases and we have to respond to nursing home and hospitals to pick up bodies and also deal with family members who may have been exposed to or are infected with the virus,” Kinnick said.

Attempts to reach DeWine’s office for comment were unsuccessful.