New York State Mandated Vaccinations

Perhaps I am missing something...as far as I can see there is NO MANDATE from CDC or from US Dept Health and Human Services for the H1N1 vaccination. It appears that the mandates are individual, state, or regional but not national. And, I am not finding anything thing that reveals "get the shot or get fired" ultimatums...only the "get the shot or wear the mask, etc" type of mandates. While I believe that employer mandates in the absence of CDC recommendations for such are overreaction, I also believe that mischaracterizing the nature of an employer mandate is "overreacting".

Please don't misunderstand...I believe that threatening a nurse with termination if the H1N1 vaccine is refused is wrong on many levels. THAT is my point in stating that there is NO NATIONAL mandate...the state and the employers are overreacting! Additionally, if people are stating that they are threatened with dismissal when in fact they are being required to wear masks or some other "remedy" for not vaccinating, then they ARE mischaracterizing. Allowing unvaccinated student nurses into clinical areas is quite another issue.

Updated info from NYSNA:


Coalition Opposes Mandate:

http://www.nysna.org/practice/h1n1/coalition_ltr.htm

CrunchyMama...whether or not students are "required" to get the vaccine is a completely different legal and ethical question. Students are not employees of the school or of the facilities in which they train. There is a legal responsibility and accountability on the part of the school to provide for the safety of the patients, staff, and visitors who come into contact with the students. This, of course, includes things like determining that the student is not going to expose pregnant women to varicella, infants to pertussis, sick people to TB, etc. The schools in the "overreacting" states are in a bit of a pickle, how do they justify mandating something that is only recommended by the CDC yet not trample on the civil liberties of their clients (the students)? If only there were simple answers to these questions...