Get the Shots..or Lose Your Job!!

The hospital system that I work for has recently made the H1N1 vaccine mandatory. The seasonal flu shot is mandatory also. If you do not receive both of these vaccines, then you are "voluntarily resigning". As you can imagine, this has made most of my coworkers and myself very angry. The regular flu shot would have been fine, but the H1N1 shot is not. This vaccine has only been out since July of this year. There is no way of knowing what the side effects and long term effects are. Because there aren't a lot of vaccines out yet, the hospital made priorities to who gets the vaccine first. Pregnant women, NICU, and then the rest of the Women's Hospital. I'm in all of those categories. About a month ago, my doctor wrote me a note so that I wouldn't have to get either of the flu shots because of medical reasons. Well, since then Moses Cone has found ways to decide what "medical reasons" were good enough to be excused. Also, for a few other reasons, I was forced to get both vaccines even though I have reactions to flu shots. As of right now, I need my job, and plus I carry our health insurance. I feel as though I had no other choice. When I did research on the H1N1 vaccine through the CDC website, I mainly looked at the information for pregnant women. There wasn't really any information. All it said was that "studies are still being done". So how do we know what the risks and side effects are for a pregnant woman and her unborn baby? This is what scares me the most. This is a very heated topic in the hospital right now. An email was sent out to every Moses Cone employee this past friday stating that everyone must have their shot by Oct. 31 or you are no longer an employee here. It even gave you step-by-step of how you were going to be fired...or "voluntarily resigning". One nurse who works at a different hospital went to Fox 8 and shared all of this information. She, like many of us, are furious and upset that we are forced to get this vaccine. But most of us feel as though we can't afford to lose our jobs. Here is a news clip of her interview with Fox 8. http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-mandatory-h1n1-moses-cone-091026,0,7855062.story