BC nurses step up fight against mandatory flu shots
Posted November 14, 2012 5:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC nurses are seizing on the work of a UK-based health science organization that questions the scientific evidence for forcing health workers to get flu shots.
This past August, provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall announced the policy that requires health care workers to get a flu shot or wear masks during the flu season. But the BC Nurses’ Union took issue with the policy almost immediately, saying the government should educate health care workers on the benefits of vaccines but keep those vaccines voluntary.
“We’re specifically asking through the Health Employers Association that they immediately withdraw the policy and leave it to the discretion of the nurse to chose whether or not to have the flu shot,” says Union President Debra McPherson.
The nurses stepped up their fight today by citing a letter in a Vancouver daily newspaper written by a doctor associated with the Cochrane Collaboration.
The nurses say the respected group has “shredded” the credibility of the reasons Kendall put forward to justify the policy and the nurses have launched a grievance over the issue.
But Kendall says even though the vaccination isn’t as effective as medical officials originally thought, it’s still about 60 per cent effective, which considerably reduces the chances somebody will pick up the virus and pass it on to patients.
