I can’t believe this is happening. If there is one group that should be 100% vaccinated, it’s heath care workers. And yet, there is a minority of them who are claiming their “right” not to be vaccinated allows them to expose themselves to the virus and spread it all over the place, including in hospitals to very sick people. Totally outrageous.
As tens of thousands of unvaccinated New York healthcare workers are set to be fired on Monday once the state’s COVID-19 vaccination deadline kicks in, Gov. Kathy Hochul has a plan for a potential staffing shortage: a statewide state of emergency.
Hochul said preparations were underway Saturday to make an emergency declaration, clearing the way for healthcare workers not licensed in New York to fill in the gaps of those terminated. The declaration will also allow workers from other countries, recent graduates, and retirees to practice in New York.
“We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal,” Hochul said in a statement. “I commend all of the health care workers who have stepped up to get themselves vaccinated, and I urge all remaining health care workers who are unvaccinated to do so now so they can continue providing care.”
State data shows that 84 percent of the state’s 450,000 hospital workers are vaccinated, along with 83 percent of its 145,400 nursing home workers. Even still, that means as many as 94,000 workers are unvaccinated, leaving a potentially dire shortfall in workers from Monday. Many who refused to get the shot have argued it violates their personal freedoms.
“We give patients a Bill of Rights, and they are able to choose what procedures or tests or medications they want to put in their system,” Gregory Serafin, a registered nurse at the Erie County Medical Center, told The New York Times. “Health care workers deserve the same medical autonomy to make those decisions.”
Some healthcare facilities believe they can withstand the loss of those employees once the Sept. 27 deadline kicks in—the earliest of those deadlines, with California’s set to start Sept. 30 and Maine’s enforcement beginning Oct. 29.
Others, such as Erie County Medical Center President Tom Quatroche, said the looming staffing loss is an “unprecedented crisis.” The facility has been forced to pause ICU transfers from other hospitals and suspend elective in-patient surgeries because it expects to fire as many as 400 employees on Monday.
I guess this is clarifying. People who think this way are antediluvian morons and should not be working with vulnerable, sick people. Who knows if they wash their hands? After all, they might think it violates their rights to follow the scientific evidence on that as well. Do they come to work sick with other illnesses and give it to the sick patients in their facilities? Probably. They need to find another profession.
Health care workers, cops, teachers and others who come in contact with sick people or are stuck in close quarters for long periods of time with people who may or may not be vaccinated should all be mandated to get the vaccine. This resistance is ridiculous and shouldn’t tolerated.
It’s infuriating that these people are prolonging this pandemic and making life hell for all of us.