Albany Rally on Vaccine Mandate Covered

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Health workers to state: Stick it!

 

Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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Gary Null, a nutritionist and health care advocate, Tuesday speaks against

mandatory flu shots at a rally of health care workers at the Capitol in

Albany. Photos Mike McMahon — The Record.

 

 

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By Danielle Sanzone

The Record

 

 

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Linda Kriedemake of Long Island joins a rally in Albany of health care

professionals to protest a state mandate for flu vaccinations. Photo by Mike

McMahon — The Record.

ALBANY — Formaldehyde, mercury and squalene may sound like ingredients in

some kind of toxic chemistry experiment but these are actually what can be

found in the H1N1 flu vaccine, which should be made available to the public

next week.

 

And it is partially because of the presence of these toxins that nearly

500 people rallied at the Capitol Tuesday against the state Department of

Health mandating that health care workers should be vaccinated for the “swine

flu†by the end of November. If they don’t comply, these medical

professionals could lose their jobs.

 

“I’m worried about what is in the vaccination itself but I am especially

worried that my freedom of choice has been taken away from me,†said Andrea

Schofield, a nuclear medicine technologist who drove from Rochester to

attend the protest. “We want a choice but still be able to keep our jobs.â€

 

Schofield said she received a letter last week from Unity Hospital, where

she works, which stated that all hospital employees had to get the shot or

become unemployed. But, in lieu of this, she said educating the public and

health care workers on preventing the flu would be a better course of

action.

 

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, just an hour after the conclusion

of the rally, with state Department of Health Commissioner Richard Daines

explained that it was up to individual institutions on what would happen

with individuals who refused the shot. This could lead to termination or

suspension and if the entire medical institution refused to give the vaccination

the state would do an investigation and determine a plan of correction.

 

Usually about 30 to 50 percent of health care workers voluntarily get the

normal, seasonal flue vaccine. “That is not enough,†said Daines adding

that the number should be closer to between 70 and 90 percent getting the

shot and since those numbers could not be reached voluntarily, a mandate is

now in place.

 

The state’s Hospital Review and Planning Council adopted the regulation on

Aug. 13 after it was recommended by the DOH. It also calls for health care

workers to get the regular seasonal flu vaccine.

 

There is a proposal for nursing home workers to get these shots but so far

it mainly applies to employees at hospitals, in home health care, and in

hospice care.

 

New York would be the first state in the country to mandate these shots,

DOH officials said.

 

“I have no trust left in this government,†said Peg Roberts of Utica who

was at the East Capitol Park rally. “I took the 1976 shot they had for this

and, looking back, I don’t know why I let them stick that needle in me.â€

 

Many protesters said they did not want to be “guinea pigs†and that it

was “their body and their choice†about if they wanted to take the

vaccines.

 

At the rally, Dr. Michael Schachter said that squalene, which is in the

vaccine, has been associated with Gulf War syndrome and other autoimmune

reactions.

 

The New York Heath Care Workers and New York Liberty Council, which

sponsored the rally, want to file a lawsuit against the DOH to stop the

mandatory

vaccinations.

 

Meanwhile, Daines said he had no qualms with taking the vaccine himself as

long as it was in supply.

 

“[Patients'] interests are served by having health care workers vaccinated,

†said Daines. “They're on the list, not because of personal benefit but

because we put patients first before our own interests. [The rally was] one

more chance to pump air into an argument that just won’t hold air.â€

 

The DOH said it will put in its first order for the H1N1 vaccine today and

should receive it by next week.

 

Danielle Sanzone may be reached at

 

270-1292 or by email at _dsanzone_

(dsanzone) .