As a nurse in the United States, if you refuse the flu vaccine you are required to wear a face mask while at work. Even though many studies have shown that flu vaccinations may be ineffective — even the CDC admitting that this may be true — and not offer extra protection for hospital patients, hospitals enforce the regulation for face masks. Why would hospitals choose to do something which stands to alienate their work force?

Occasionally, nurses are choosing to leave their jobs rather than receive a flu vaccine. Of these, some have begun to sue hospitals as well as federal and state government offices for up to 100 million dollars. They claim that the hospitals are taking away their constitutional rights.

Doctor Karen Sibert, a pro-vaccine doctor, has written extensively about how requiring nurses to wear masks if they refuse to be vaccinated violates patient privacy laws. Perhaps more concerning, though, is how it forces many of our nurses to inject a concoction with questionable ingredients and efficacy — including aluminum, a known neurotoxin.

As part of the Nurses Against Mandatory Vaccines (NAMV), in 2015 more than 22 thousand nurses refused mandatory vaccines. Being neither pro-  nor anti-vaccination, the organization frames itself as being pro-choice, believing that members should have the right to refuse medical treatment — including nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Most hospitals are required to have a 90% or higher flu shot reception rate among their staff — or else they lose a portion of funding for Medicare/Medicaid. Lawmakers have identified this as a potential conflict of interest, as the vaccines are not always administered free of charge.

Our federal government does not require mandatory vaccination, but many hospitals are taking a harsh stance against their employees. Some professionals are being fired for refusing a flu vaccine. This is not only a violation of basic human rights, but a violation of federal law, as well.

Furthering obscuring the issue, the oft-cited figures for deaths from the flu each year are only an estimation. Pneumonia and other diseases are included in this statistic as well, which serves to further complicate the data. Most flu strains change molecular form before a vaccine can effectively treat them, making the vaccine mostly inefficacious.

The NAMV thinks that the mandatory flu vaccines for “patient safety” constitute a breach of human rights. Instead, they believe that it’s more of a step towards providing funding for pharmaceutical and vaccine companies. It’s a breath of fresh air to see our nurses standing up for what is right, in their own lives and the health of others, as well.

See the article that inspired this one here