Oct 23, 2009

Governor Suspends Mandated Flu Shots for Health Workers

Guv suspends mandated flu shots for health workers

By Ridgely Ochs

Citing shortages of flu vaccine, Gov. David A. Paterson has announced that the state Health Department was suspending a controversial mandate that all health care workers get vaccinated or lose their jobs.

"We need to be as resourceful as we can with the limited supplies of vaccine currently coming into the state," Paterson said in a statement released late Thursday. He said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the state this week that only about 23 percent - or 27.7 million doses - of its anticipated H1N1 vaccine supply would be available nationwide by the end of the month.

In August, the state health commissioner, Dr. Richard Daines, imposed the employee mandate for seasonal and swine flu shots, the first in the country, with a deadline of Nov. 30. At least four lawsuits were filed by health care workers who said the requirement violated their civil rights. Last week an Albany judge issued a temporary restraining order, suspending the mandate until Oct. 30.

Colleen Heinze, a nurse at Stony Brook University Medical Center who opposed the mandate, called the news "fantastic."

"That means I get to keep my job," she said.

Patricia Finn, a Rockland County lawyer who had filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Dutchess County nurse seeking to void the mandate, said she was pleased with the decision. "I'd like to think the commissioner heard the cries of the health care workers," she said.

A health department spokeswoman, Claudia Hutton, said the lawsuits "had nothing to do with" the decision.

Daines said in the release vaccinating health care workers "continues to be an important patient safety measure" and urged hospitals to encourage employees to do so.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said he had spoken with the governor and sent a letter Thursday calling on him to suspend the mandate because of too little vaccine. He called the decision "a wise move."

Demand for H1N1 vaccine has exceeded supply in the state, including Nassau and Suffolk. The state Health Department opened a call-in center this week for doctors to place orders. So far this week, the CDC has allowed New York to order 146,300 doses of vaccine, while doctors have requested 1,482,822 doses, the state said.

Seasonal flu vaccine is also in short supply because many manufacturers switched over to make the H1N1 vaccine.

Suozzi called on the CDC to tell local officials how much H1N1 vaccine is available and who is getting it.

"I'm fed up with the CDC," Suozzi said, adding he telephoned and sent a letter Thursday to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the agency.

Suozzi's letter said local officials were unable "to provide accurate information on when or how vaccine will be distributed because we do not know what the CDC's plan is.

"As a result, our residents are confused, our public health officials do not have accurate information," he wrote.

The CDC acknowledged the problem. "We are experiencing a very fluid situation that is changing minute by minute," said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. "We understand that some officials are frustrated. "

Skinner said it would be the middle or end of November before there will be enough H1N1 vaccine. With Sid Cassese