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North country health care workers make voices heard on state vaccine mandate, want public to know they aren't "anti-vaxxers"
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Michael Ejercito
Sep 20, 2021, 12:05:04 AM9/20/21
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http://www.reddit.com/r/COVIDrights/comments/prn8z7/north_country_health_care_workers_make_voices/
North country health care workers make voices heard on state vaccine
mandate, want public to know they aren't "anti-vaxxers"
Rachel Burt, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
Sun, September 19, 2021, 6:08 AM·10 min read
Sep. 19—WATERTOWN — With the Sept. 27 deadline looming for the New York
mandate that all health care workers, including staff at hospitals and
long-term care facilities, be required to get vaccinated against
COVID-19, some health care workers face a difficult decision.
Should they decide not to receive at least the first dose of one of the
three available coronavirus vaccines before the state's deadline, health
care workers risk the loss of their livelihoods and the careers they've
worked to build.
Giving voice to their concerns and displeasure with the mandate,
tri-county health care workers have been protesting this week and
signing on to Change.org petitions.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
On Wednesday, protesters gathered in Potsdam, and a Watertown protest
organized by Samaritan Health workers, like the one that occurred
outside of the hospital last week, took place on Public Square Saturday
afternoon, coinciding with protests in other cities, including Syracuse.
Jenelle S. Stine, a registered nurse with Samaritan, has retained the
position for about five years and said that although nursing means the
world to her, she is willing to walk away from it until there is more
concrete data about the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines
she and her colleagues have been mandated to receive.
"Until the vaccines are studied in a more complex, traditional setting
that scientists and the FDA normally use, I think the 'warp speed'
studies should be focused on how to use safe, traditional medications to
treat early diagnosed illness of COVID to build natural immunity to
prevent hospitalizations and deaths," she said.
Adding that there is nothing wrong with how staff have been managing
with screens and personal protective equipment, or PPE, so far through
the pandemic, if the mandate goes through and health care systems lose
nurses and other staff, she predicts it will have a devastating impact
on the patients that will need health care.
"[...]Whether it's from the uptick of COVID or admissions for patients
with chronic disease processes, this will be a lose situation for all,"
Mrs. Stine said. "I commend those who got vaccinated and contributed to
this research; I personally have personal health issues that made me opt
to not take a risk with a new vaccine."
From her perspective, the risks of the vaccines aren't worth the
benefits. Everyone, she said, is ultimately accountable for preventing
the transmission of the virus and being diligent with preventative measures.
On Aug. 16, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that all health care
workers in New York state would be required to be vaccinated against
COVID-19. The requirement applied to staff at all hospitals and
long-term care facilities like nursing homes and congregate care settings.
Religious and medical exemptions were both initially included in the
order, but religious exemptions were removed through emergency
regulations approved by the state's Public Health and Health Planning
Council on Aug. 26.
With deadline to receive at least one dose by Sept. 27 comes the
understanding that if health care workers do not comply and do not have
a recognized medical exemption, they will be relieved of their positions.
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the state from forcing
health care workers to be vaccinated after a group of 17 health care
workers sued, saying their constitutional rights were violated due to
the fact that the mandate had disallowed religious exemptions.
"It's nice to know that there are other people that are against this,
that they're willing to fight," Mrs. Stine said. "They don't think it's
right either."
The judge gave the state until Wednesday to respond to the lawsuit in
U.S. District Court in Utica. If the state opposes the request for a
preliminary court order blocking the mandate, which it likely will, an
oral hearing will be held Sept. 28.
According to a handout from the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health, in various stages of vaccine development and manufacturing, some
of the COVID-19 vaccines used cells originally isolated from fetal
tissue, some of which were originally derived from an aborted fetus.
The fetal cell lines being used to produce some of the potential
COVID-19 vaccines are from two sources: a kidney cell line that was
isolated from a fetus in 1973, and a retinal cell line that was isolated
from an aborted fetus in 1985.
Abortions from which fetal cells were obtained were elective and were
not done for the purpose of vaccine development, and any vaccine that
relies on these historic cell lines will not require nor solicit new
abortions, according to the handout.
Some bioethics groups and religious institutions, including the Vatican,
generally oppose the use of aborted fetal cells in the development or
manufacturing of vaccines but have said that, given the nature of the
pandemic, people may ethically receive these vaccines when there are no
alternatives.
Michelle L. Laverghetta, who has been in her current position for over
six years as a housekeeper with Samaritan Summit Village and loves what
she does, said those she has spoken with all say the same thing: they're
being punished for not obeying something they don't believe in and will
eventually be fired if they refuse the shots.
Health care facilities may take large hits as they lose staff to the
mandate, which could very well negatively impact patient care.
"People have rights and when they are threatened, they fight back," Ms.
Laverghetta said. "It's in the Constitution — it's called freedom."
A week from Monday, health care staffing could drastically change due to
the mandate. Though some health care workers do not agree with the
mandate, the hope in the north country is there will not be a major
impact on health systems or services.
According to Leslie M. DiStefano, director of communication and public
relations for Samaritan, the health care system doesn't have a number on
formal resignations at this time, but is estimating between 50 to 100
team members will choose to resign rather than get vaccinated.
The entire health system is at about 80% vaccination, according to Ms.
DiStefano.
"Even losing one caregiver, one team member, is detrimental to what we
do," she said. "There's no way that we could operate in the same way
knowing that there already is a national and a local workforce shortage.
And now you have more people leaving the organization."
While she acknowledged that this could mean things like longer wait
times, appointments being scheduled further out, and incoming calls not
answered as quickly, Ms. DiStefano said at this point, there's no
intention to reduce or close any Samaritan services. She added that
patient volumes have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
As previously reported by the Times this week, three of the five
departments at the Lewis County Health System that were in danger of
being "paused" due to staff loss from resistance to the COVID-19
vaccine, like the maternity department, have been moved off the watch list.
The health system-wide vaccination rate was 83% as of Thursday
afternoon, according to Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer.The
total number of resignations so far is 43, with about 70% being clinical
staff.
Mr. Cayer confirmed that he and his team have been working internally to
re-position staff so services have adequate coverage while "also
aggressively working with outside agencies to help fill positions that
will be vacant on the 28th."
Jake Hollis, a respiratory therapist with the Lewis County Health
System, said he has put 15 years into health care and has never felt as
low as he does right now due to the impending mandate and the
approaching loss of his beloved job over a vaccine he does not wish to
receive.
"I love what I do. It's not a job, it's a passion, and this state is
about to take that away from me because I don't feel comfortable with a
medication that we don't know the long-term effects of," he said. "It's
my body, my choice, except for this."
Mr. Hollis stressed that he and his fellow health care workers who are
unhappy with the vaccine mandate, are not "anti-vax." He said he has all
of the vaccines previously required of him and said he would receive one
of the COVID-19 vaccines 10 years down the line once it is known if
there are any long-term effects.
"It's just the fact that this one is so new and as health care providers
we are supposed to question it," he said. "We have seen medications come
on the market and be taken off a month and years later because of
adverse or long-term effects."
He said he feels brokenhearted right know, knowing that something he
loves so much could soon be taken from him.
Ben E. Hull, who has served as the director of the Center for Cancer
Care at Canton-Potsdam Hospital for the last four years, turned in his
letter of resignation earlier this month in direct response to the state
Department of Health's removal of religious exemptions to the health
care worker mandate.
He said the state's refusal to acknowledge religious exemptions was "a
slap in the face to those of faith who serve in health care."
"The line for me was when it became a religious liberty issue," Mr. Hull
said. "Other people who are working in health care and in the community
may not totally agree with where that line is or ought to be. I think
what's important is that people do what they believe is right."
Mr. Hull acknowledged that his decision to resign over this policy may
seem extreme in light of the fact that he himself is fully vaccinated.
He wrote in a letter sent out to various outlets that it is no more
extreme than forcing health care facilities to terminate employees for
adhering to their sincerely held religious convictions.
"The very same people who have selflessly served our community on the
front lines of a pandemic response for 18 months will be unceremoniously
kicked to the curb," Mr. Hull wrote. "If the state chooses to persist in
this egregious violation of rights of conscience, our local health care
system will be severely weakened by the end of September."
His last day in his role at CPH will be Friday, right before the mandate
is set to take effect the following Monday.
As for the temporary halt and legal action against the vaccination
mandate, Mr. Hull said it is heartening, but it certainly is not a done
deal.
"I think it's so important for people to take a stand in this arena," he
said. "In the midst of an already existing staffing crisis that health
care facilities are experiencing across the country and in the state, I
think what a lot of people are being made aware of as this policy is
making the rounds in the news is: Any essential worker working in health
care being forced out of their job for these reasons is too many."
If, for example, he said, someone's family member calls 911 with chest
pain in a few weeks and is told an ambulance is not coming, it will be
too late to speak up about the mandate.Emergency medical service
managers , he added, are at a loss for how they are expected to respond
to emergencies without their staff and volunteers.
"These heroes of our community will be barred from showing up to save
our loved-ones' lives because they're unvaccinated," he said. "Is that
worth it? I don't think it is."
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
North country health care workers make voices heard on state vaccine
mandate, want public to know they aren't "anti-vaxxers"
Rachel Burt, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
Sun, September 19, 2021, 6:08 AM·10 min read
Sep. 19—WATERTOWN — With the Sept. 27 deadline looming for the New York
mandate that all health care workers, including staff at hospitals and
long-term care facilities, be required to get vaccinated against
COVID-19, some health care workers face a difficult decision.
Should they decide not to receive at least the first dose of one of the
three available coronavirus vaccines before the state's deadline, health
care workers risk the loss of their livelihoods and the careers they've
worked to build.
Giving voice to their concerns and displeasure with the mandate,
tri-county health care workers have been protesting this week and
signing on to Change.org petitions.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
On Wednesday, protesters gathered in Potsdam, and a Watertown protest
organized by Samaritan Health workers, like the one that occurred
outside of the hospital last week, took place on Public Square Saturday
afternoon, coinciding with protests in other cities, including Syracuse.
Jenelle S. Stine, a registered nurse with Samaritan, has retained the
position for about five years and said that although nursing means the
world to her, she is willing to walk away from it until there is more
concrete data about the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines
she and her colleagues have been mandated to receive.
"Until the vaccines are studied in a more complex, traditional setting
that scientists and the FDA normally use, I think the 'warp speed'
studies should be focused on how to use safe, traditional medications to
treat early diagnosed illness of COVID to build natural immunity to
prevent hospitalizations and deaths," she said.
Adding that there is nothing wrong with how staff have been managing
with screens and personal protective equipment, or PPE, so far through
the pandemic, if the mandate goes through and health care systems lose
nurses and other staff, she predicts it will have a devastating impact
on the patients that will need health care.
"[...]Whether it's from the uptick of COVID or admissions for patients
with chronic disease processes, this will be a lose situation for all,"
Mrs. Stine said. "I commend those who got vaccinated and contributed to
this research; I personally have personal health issues that made me opt
to not take a risk with a new vaccine."
From her perspective, the risks of the vaccines aren't worth the
benefits. Everyone, she said, is ultimately accountable for preventing
the transmission of the virus and being diligent with preventative measures.
On Aug. 16, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that all health care
workers in New York state would be required to be vaccinated against
COVID-19. The requirement applied to staff at all hospitals and
long-term care facilities like nursing homes and congregate care settings.
Religious and medical exemptions were both initially included in the
order, but religious exemptions were removed through emergency
regulations approved by the state's Public Health and Health Planning
Council on Aug. 26.
With deadline to receive at least one dose by Sept. 27 comes the
understanding that if health care workers do not comply and do not have
a recognized medical exemption, they will be relieved of their positions.
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the state from forcing
health care workers to be vaccinated after a group of 17 health care
workers sued, saying their constitutional rights were violated due to
the fact that the mandate had disallowed religious exemptions.
"It's nice to know that there are other people that are against this,
that they're willing to fight," Mrs. Stine said. "They don't think it's
right either."
The judge gave the state until Wednesday to respond to the lawsuit in
U.S. District Court in Utica. If the state opposes the request for a
preliminary court order blocking the mandate, which it likely will, an
oral hearing will be held Sept. 28.
According to a handout from the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health, in various stages of vaccine development and manufacturing, some
of the COVID-19 vaccines used cells originally isolated from fetal
tissue, some of which were originally derived from an aborted fetus.
The fetal cell lines being used to produce some of the potential
COVID-19 vaccines are from two sources: a kidney cell line that was
isolated from a fetus in 1973, and a retinal cell line that was isolated
from an aborted fetus in 1985.
Abortions from which fetal cells were obtained were elective and were
not done for the purpose of vaccine development, and any vaccine that
relies on these historic cell lines will not require nor solicit new
abortions, according to the handout.
Some bioethics groups and religious institutions, including the Vatican,
generally oppose the use of aborted fetal cells in the development or
manufacturing of vaccines but have said that, given the nature of the
pandemic, people may ethically receive these vaccines when there are no
alternatives.
Michelle L. Laverghetta, who has been in her current position for over
six years as a housekeeper with Samaritan Summit Village and loves what
she does, said those she has spoken with all say the same thing: they're
being punished for not obeying something they don't believe in and will
eventually be fired if they refuse the shots.
Health care facilities may take large hits as they lose staff to the
mandate, which could very well negatively impact patient care.
"People have rights and when they are threatened, they fight back," Ms.
Laverghetta said. "It's in the Constitution — it's called freedom."
A week from Monday, health care staffing could drastically change due to
the mandate. Though some health care workers do not agree with the
mandate, the hope in the north country is there will not be a major
impact on health systems or services.
According to Leslie M. DiStefano, director of communication and public
relations for Samaritan, the health care system doesn't have a number on
formal resignations at this time, but is estimating between 50 to 100
team members will choose to resign rather than get vaccinated.
The entire health system is at about 80% vaccination, according to Ms.
DiStefano.
"Even losing one caregiver, one team member, is detrimental to what we
do," she said. "There's no way that we could operate in the same way
knowing that there already is a national and a local workforce shortage.
And now you have more people leaving the organization."
While she acknowledged that this could mean things like longer wait
times, appointments being scheduled further out, and incoming calls not
answered as quickly, Ms. DiStefano said at this point, there's no
intention to reduce or close any Samaritan services. She added that
patient volumes have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
As previously reported by the Times this week, three of the five
departments at the Lewis County Health System that were in danger of
being "paused" due to staff loss from resistance to the COVID-19
vaccine, like the maternity department, have been moved off the watch list.
The health system-wide vaccination rate was 83% as of Thursday
afternoon, according to Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer.The
total number of resignations so far is 43, with about 70% being clinical
staff.
Mr. Cayer confirmed that he and his team have been working internally to
re-position staff so services have adequate coverage while "also
aggressively working with outside agencies to help fill positions that
will be vacant on the 28th."
Jake Hollis, a respiratory therapist with the Lewis County Health
System, said he has put 15 years into health care and has never felt as
low as he does right now due to the impending mandate and the
approaching loss of his beloved job over a vaccine he does not wish to
receive.
"I love what I do. It's not a job, it's a passion, and this state is
about to take that away from me because I don't feel comfortable with a
medication that we don't know the long-term effects of," he said. "It's
my body, my choice, except for this."
Mr. Hollis stressed that he and his fellow health care workers who are
unhappy with the vaccine mandate, are not "anti-vax." He said he has all
of the vaccines previously required of him and said he would receive one
of the COVID-19 vaccines 10 years down the line once it is known if
there are any long-term effects.
"It's just the fact that this one is so new and as health care providers
we are supposed to question it," he said. "We have seen medications come
on the market and be taken off a month and years later because of
adverse or long-term effects."
He said he feels brokenhearted right know, knowing that something he
loves so much could soon be taken from him.
Ben E. Hull, who has served as the director of the Center for Cancer
Care at Canton-Potsdam Hospital for the last four years, turned in his
letter of resignation earlier this month in direct response to the state
Department of Health's removal of religious exemptions to the health
care worker mandate.
He said the state's refusal to acknowledge religious exemptions was "a
slap in the face to those of faith who serve in health care."
"The line for me was when it became a religious liberty issue," Mr. Hull
said. "Other people who are working in health care and in the community
may not totally agree with where that line is or ought to be. I think
what's important is that people do what they believe is right."
Mr. Hull acknowledged that his decision to resign over this policy may
seem extreme in light of the fact that he himself is fully vaccinated.
He wrote in a letter sent out to various outlets that it is no more
extreme than forcing health care facilities to terminate employees for
adhering to their sincerely held religious convictions.
"The very same people who have selflessly served our community on the
front lines of a pandemic response for 18 months will be unceremoniously
kicked to the curb," Mr. Hull wrote. "If the state chooses to persist in
this egregious violation of rights of conscience, our local health care
system will be severely weakened by the end of September."
His last day in his role at CPH will be Friday, right before the mandate
is set to take effect the following Monday.
As for the temporary halt and legal action against the vaccination
mandate, Mr. Hull said it is heartening, but it certainly is not a done
deal.
"I think it's so important for people to take a stand in this arena," he
said. "In the midst of an already existing staffing crisis that health
care facilities are experiencing across the country and in the state, I
think what a lot of people are being made aware of as this policy is
making the rounds in the news is: Any essential worker working in health
care being forced out of their job for these reasons is too many."
If, for example, he said, someone's family member calls 911 with chest
pain in a few weeks and is told an ambulance is not coming, it will be
too late to speak up about the mandate.Emergency medical service
managers , he added, are at a loss for how they are expected to respond
to emergencies without their staff and volunteers.
"These heroes of our community will be barred from showing up to save
our loved-ones' lives because they're unvaccinated," he said. "Is that
worth it? I don't think it is."
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
HeartDoc Andrew
Sep 20, 2021, 12:49:59 AM9/20/21
to
the U.S. & elsewhere is by rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 )
finding out at any given moment, including even while on-line, who
among us are unwittingly contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or
asymptomatic) in order to http://bit.ly/convince_it_forward (John
15:12) for them to call their doctor and self-quarantine per their
doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the
best while preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage
mutations and others like the Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining to form hybrids that render current
COVID vaccines no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 )
and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
...because we mindfully choose to openly care with our heart,
HeartDoc Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Cardiologist with an http://HeartMDPhD.com/EternalMedicalLicense
2024 & upwards non-partisan candidate for U.S. President:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/WonderfullyHungryPresident
and author of the 2PD-OMER Approach:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/HeartDocAndrewCare
which is the only **healthy** cure for the U.S. healthcare crisis
Michael Ejercito
Sep 20, 2021, 1:46:17 AM9/20/21
to
Michael
HeartDoc Andrew
Sep 20, 2021, 7:17:00 AM9/20/21
to
MichaelE wrote:
While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, not only don't have
COVID-19 but are rapture (Luke 17:37) ready and pray (2 Chronicles
7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6) Father in Heaven continues to
give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so
that we'd have much more of His Help to always say/write that we're
"wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways including especially caring to
http://bit.ly/convince_it_forward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm117_ ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/HeartDocAndrewToutsHunger (Luke 6:21a) with all
glory ( http://HeartMDPhD.com/Psalm117_ ) to GOD, Who causes us to
hunger (Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a)
thereby removing the http://HeartMDPhD.com/VAT from around the heart
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, not only don't have
COVID-19 but are rapture (Luke 17:37) ready and pray (2 Chronicles
7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6) Father in Heaven continues to
give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so
that we'd have much more of His Help to always say/write that we're
"wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways including especially caring to
http://bit.ly/convince_it_forward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm117_ ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/HeartDocAndrewToutsHunger (Luke 6:21a) with all
glory ( http://HeartMDPhD.com/Psalm117_ ) to GOD, Who causes us to
hunger (Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a)
thereby removing the http://HeartMDPhD.com/VAT from around the heart
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