Protesters Decry Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate: 'My Choice'

RIVERHEAD, NY — Scores turned out Saturday in Riverhead to protest a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers that goes into effect this month.

On August 16, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that all healthcare workers in New York State, including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities, would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Monday, September 27.

The New York State Department of Health issued Section 16 orders requiring all hospital, LTCF, and nursing homes to develop and implement a policy mandating employee vaccinations, with limited exceptions for those with religious or medical reasons, Cuomo said.

But those who gathered around the Route 58 traffic circle outside Peconic Bay Medical Center Saturday, a mix of anti-vaxxers and healthcare workers from across Long Island, as well as their supporters, were holding signs that said "Let Me Call My Own Shots," "My Rights Are Essential," "From Hero To Zero," and "My Body, My Choice, My Rights." Many said they had concerns about the mandate.

Mike Hathaway, who lives in Coram and whose wife is a nurse on Long Island, was among those participating. "It's not even about politics anymore; it's about freedom of choice. Letting people decide what's correct for their own bodies."

Hathaway said he believes the vaccine mandate is "going to cost a lot of people their jobs." Hospitals, he said, are already "horribly short-staffed."

A Northwell Health media representative responded that more than 80 percent of Northwell Health employees are vaccinated, a percentage that closely mirrors the hospital vaccination rate statewide.

Also, Hathaway said he was concerned about vaccinations that weren't "time-tested" and the deaths that he said could ensue from side effects of the vaccination.

Of the 369 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccination administered nationwide through August, 0.002 of recipients died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"Why are they pushing this so hard?" Hathaway asked. "From bribery, with free beer and $100 gift cards, to fear and now, they're going to straight-up force. It doesn't make sense."

Hathaway said the death rate from COVID-19 did not warrant the harsh mandates; he and his whole family have had COVID-19, with mild symptoms, and some people who are infected do not even realize they've had the virus without a test.

His wife, he said, will not be vaccinated; the couple is contemplating leaving New York.

He added that the Riverhead protest was not an isolated event; other groups would be protesting at a number of hospitals across Long Island this week.

"These people were heroes on the front lines last year and now, you're throwing them to the wolves like they don't matter?" Hathaway said. "These men and women love their jobs. It's a higher calling. Now if they don't get vaccinated, they're terminated? It's insane."

Ginny McCaffery, who lives on the North Fork, was also at the protest with members of the Long Island Loud Majority group: She said she was happy with everyone who came out to support the healthcare workers. "No vaccine should be mandated," she said. "Everyone should have the choice of what goes into their bodies."

PBMC Director of Marketing Victoria Palacio issued a statement: "Northwell joined other health systems and organizations across the country in taking reasonable steps to ensure our staff are protected and available to care for the patients and communities we serve. We are proud that so far more than 82 percent of our workforce has been vaccinated against COVID-19. New York State also plans to implement a vaccine mandate on health care workers and we will comply with those guidelines when they go into effect later this month."

The statement also said: "While we have received widespread support from patients, team members and the community for these vaccine requirements, we acknowledge that others remain uncertain about the vaccine. We are hopeful now that the FDA has fully approved the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine for adults 16 and older our team members will be that much more confident in the safety and efficacy of these vaccines."

TJ Weiss, who lives in Mastic Beach and has no healthcare affiliation, said he protested the vaccination mandate for a number of reasons. "It allows for segregation of people into two categories, vaxxed and unvaxxed. The mandate also eliminates people's freedom of choice."

He added: "Just several months ago 'my body, my choice' was all the rage but now people are being forced out of their careers if they don't consent to a forced vaccination. I am not anti-vaccine by any means, and politics should not be brought into this vaccine debate."

Weiss said he had heard concerns expressed about possible miscarriages from pregnant women who had been vaccinated. "Without long-term studies having been conducted, I don't feel pushing people out of their jobs by mandating this vaccine is the right thing to do."

A new CDC analysis of current data assessed vaccination early in pregnancy and did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Miscarriage typically occurs in about 11-16% of pregnancies, and this study found miscarriage rates after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were around 13%, similar to the expected rate of miscarriage in the general population.