There has recently been discussion in the news about New York State mandating that healthcare providers receive the H1N1 Vaccination. Title: Subpart 66-3 – Health care facility personnel – influenza vaccination requirements provides the following definition for “Personnel” affected by the mandation:

(b) “Personnel” means all persons employed or affiliated with a healthcare facility, whether paid or unpaid, including but not limited to employees, members of the medical staff, contract staff, students, and volunteers, who either have direct contact with patients or whose activities are such that if they were infected with influenza, they could potentially expose patients, or others who have direct contact with patients, to influenza;

This verbage essentially requires private and hospital based EMS services (31 agencies in New York City alone) to vaccinate their EMTs and Paramedics since they would be considered as either employed by the healthcare facility or contracted by them. Volunteer agencies and municipal agencies are not included in this verbage and are therefore exempt from the state mandation.

State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines M.D. wrote an open letter on the subject, and was responded to with an open letter from a group of healthcare workers against the mandatory vaccinations. With the verbage of the law being pretty clear, EMTs and Paramedics will have direct contact with patients throughout a healthcare facility in the performance of their duties, and are therefore included.

I know that there are alot of people upset by this. Some are upset because they have lost the choice to decide for themselves. Some are upset because they don’t feel the vaccine is safe, have families they need to provide for, and can’t afford for something to go wrong. I truly understand both these positions and I can understand the strong desire to want to decline.

It’s important to remember that this is NOT being mandated by the services, but by the State Government. There are plenty of precedents to the government doing something like this, such as the polio and rubella vaccine requirements to attend elementary school. While there are religious and medical exemptions available for those vaccines and it may very well be possible to get a medical exemption for this vaccine, where does that put you? This has been declared a pandemic situation so just because you get a medical exemption from receiving the vaccine does not mean that healthcare facilities need to let you in to care for their patients. How are you going to do your job (and get paid) to provide for your family then?

Honestly, I think this is overkill. I think the signing of this bill illustrates why Governor David Patterson has an approval rating practically in the negatives. Personally I will be letting my vote for whoever decides to be his opponent speak as to my displeasure of his draconian methods. Until then, when the vaccine is available and since I’m mandated to get it, then I’ll take it.

Chances of this law getting overturned? Slim to none. Of course, if healthcare workers were really serious about protesting this… they would organize a Facebook Group just like the EMS Professionals Against NBC’s Trauma… because you know… it may be a bad thing to force treatment onto someont… but it’s a worse thing when medics are hot blondes.

NYS Health Care Personnel Influenza Vaccination Requirements

NYSDOH Health Advisory H1N1 Vaccine