Your Beliefs VS My Health...

I don't care who you are, your beliefs should not be allowed to affect my health.  This article discusses how hospitals are cracking down on health workers who refuse to get their flu vaccinations.  There have been a number of firings of people working these fields who have refused the vaccine.  The reasons they've cited have included:

• Allergy to the vaccine
• Religious/Ideological issues
• Skepticism over the vaccine's efficacy

Let's start with the allergy issue.  If you are truly allergic to the vaccine, I honestly doubt the hospital administration would fire you.  They wouldn't want to get sued or be found liable for anything that happened to you.  

As for the issues of beliefs.  If you don't like what goes on in the medical world or it somehow offends your delicate sensibilities, then get the hell out.  I should not be unduly exposed to an illness because your beliefs have left you vulnerable.

As for skepticism over the vaccine's effectiveness.  Are you a medical researcher?  Can you be in any way certain the vaccine doesn't work?  Are you an immunologist?  Most likely the answer to all of those is, "No." I find most people in this category to be of the same vein as doomsday preppers & zealots.

I agree with the ethicist cited in the article.  An individual's rights are trumped by their obligation to protect their patients from harm.  Think of it this way, you have a situation involving many people whose immune systems are comprised, be they +, elderly, cancer patients, etc...  Now an individual decides that he/she is above it all & shouldn't be required to get a flu shot.  That decision puts every 1 of those people at risk for contracting the flu.  An illness that can & does kill.   If any of those people died from that exposure, the person refusing the vaccine would be at fault.

To wrap this up.  If you can't bring yourself to get a flu shot, then stay the hell away from the sick people.  Individuals may have their reasons for not getting the vaccine, but once they become healthcare workers, their option not to be inoculated, should go out the window.  

Cya...