Should flu shots for health care workers be mandatory?
Health care workers have notoriously low rates of vaccination against the seasonal flu -- as low as 42 percent according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though they are constantly encouraged to be among the first to get the vaccine.
Hospitals are trying to improve this, especially this year, as the swine flu pandemic is making everyone worried that a severe flu season could overburden hospitals and their staffs.
In this story, I explain how some Maryland hospitals are becoming more strict with their policies, making seasonal flu shots mandatory, with certain exceptions for people with medical or religious excuses. If they refuse, workers could be face disciplinary action, including termination. In New York, a statewide mandate has been greeted with loud protests and a lawsuit from hospital workers.
So, would you want your doctor to get a shot?
Associated Press photo
Comments
Not only do I think this should be a matter of choice what goes into your body, I am not convinced that vaccines are effective or safe. Some very dangerous side effects exist which are far worse to me than the flu itself, plus I know several people who have gotten very bad cases of the flu from the shot. I'm grateful I am not a health care worker and am not being forced.
Posted by: Dale Reynolds | October 19, 2009 10:01 AM
Why don't the health workers go on strike and let's see how the self-righteous bureaucrats fair?
Why are government bureaucrats always trying to play God? I urge every American to start voting out every Republican, Democrat, or Independent that supports these mandatory invasions on private citizens and also any who support the Climate Change Treaty(Convention), whether it is ratified or not. Let's get some sanity in our government.
Please Americans; this is our country they are devastating with their dictatorial edicts.
Posted by: jravalon | October 20, 2009 7:36 PM
No vaccine IMO should be mandatory for anyone. Especially not a vaccine that is new and really little tested in the general population.
Every individual should have the right to control what is done to and with their body and no one should be able to impose any requirements on those choices. This is not a simple external safety precaution like a seatbelt or limiting smoke exposure; it is an invasive procedure with significant risks.
But it's easier to require a vaccine than to institute a sane, human-friendly sick-leave or work policy, isn't it? If instead we simply agreed that people who are ill should not come to work, I imagine we'd cut down on a whole lot more disease transmission.
Posted by: Gina | October 28, 2009 12:10 AM