Health workers demonstrated Thursday against the New York-Presbyterian hospital’s new vaccination policy, which makes vaccination mandatory.
Hundreds of members of the 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers Union gathered in front of the medical center in upper Manhattan.
“Today, we are on the main campus of NY-Presby to hear the voices of our members. Educate, not force vaccines!” The union wrote in a message on social media.
Today, we’re at NY-Presby’s main campus rallying for them to hear our members voices! Educate, not mandate vaccines! pic.twitter.com/OTUznIYG6R
– 1199seiu (@ 1199SEIU) July 22, 2021
In June, the hospital announced that all of its employees – 48,000 – must receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before September 1.
“During the past year, we have all witnessed the most severe global health crisis in a century,” read the letter the Hospital sent to its employees when it announced the decision.
“You worked tirelessly during this pandemic to help our patients and communities overcome it. Now, thanks to the advent of effective COVID-19 vaccines, we can look forward with hope and relief for the first time in more than a year. Yet there is one more important action that we all must take: get vaccinated, “it was added.
But protesters believe the vaccine should be a free choice, not a mandatory requirement.
Union members say that no one should force them to get vaccinated, especially if by not doing so they risk being fired.
“We believe our members are better equipped to make the right health care decisions for their bodies and their families,” Cara Noel, 1199SEIU director of communications, was quoted as saying by ABCnews. “We have been promoting vaccination, but making vaccination a condition of employment is absolutely wrong.”
This week Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that city health workers will need to get vaccinated or get tested for the coronavirus weekly. The NY-Presbiteryan is private and can set its own guidelines.
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