Did you get your flu shot yet? For collegiettes entering the workforce, particularly the medical field, this question may be more of a demand. There is an ongoing controversy over hospital mandates that require employees to be vaccinated. While some find these regulations in violation of their privacy, hospitals cite HIPAA and employees’ obligations to doing what is best for the patients. In truth, mandating the flu vaccine isn’t all that different than the shots required to attend school. It is meant to protect the individual and others around them. Hospital workers deal with many high-risk patients for the flu, and it can be easily spread. The objective of this mandate seems clear, especially given that, according to medical professional Kristin Vondrak, there are approximately 36,000 flu related deaths per year. As patients and families of patients, we want to know that the health care staff is doing everything they can to protect us. When the flu vaccination is highly successful and overall safe, objections to it seem hard to understand the objection.
For the staff who protest the vaccination, they feel they have a right over their own bodies and a right to the freedom of choice. The mandate feels like a personal violation and a control that leaves the realm of the work place. Some of the opposition claims they do not object to the vaccine on its own. The resistance comes from the notion of forced vaccination. These workers want the trust to make the right decisions for themselves and their patients.
So, how far do the rights of the individual go? Can employers really dictate what we put in our body? Do we have an ethical obligation to do what is best for the most people when the personal cost is low? I’d like to hear what others think about the issue. So be prepared collegiettes, and make sure you know the policies at your place or intended place of work.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Info and Stance of Mandatory Flu Vaccine