Yesterday (June 7th) was the deadline that Houston Methodist Hospital CEO Dr. Marc Boom had set for workers to get the COVID vaccine.If they refused by the end of the day, they would be suspended for two weeks, then terminated.
Just over a week ago, 117 employees had filed suit against the hospital over the vaccine mandate. Attorney Jared Woodfill is representing the employees, he says that they should have freedom of choice to take the vaccine without “force, deceit, fraud, threat, solicitation, or any type of binding or coercion.”
Lead plaintiff and nurse Jennifer Bridges organized the walkout at the Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown.
She told ABC13, “If we don’t stop this now and do some kind of change, everybody’s just going to topple. It’s going to create a domino effect. Everybody across the nation is going to be forced to get things into their body that they don’t want and that’s not right.”
Kara Shepherd, a labor and delivery nurse who is part of the lawsuit, tells KHOU “all last year, through the COVID pandemic, we came to work and did our jobs. We did what we were asked. This year, we’re basically told we’re disposable.”
ER nurse Amanda Rivera tells KPRC-TV, “I feel like they kind of bullied us into this little corner like you have to do it or you don’t have a job. This is my only source of income.”
Rivera says she will be suspended tomorrow for two weeks with no pay for not getting the vaccine. If she doesn’t get the vaccine by June 21st then she will be terminated.
The New York Times reports that (emphasis added):
“...few American companies have required Covid-19 shots, despite federal government guidance that says employers can mandate vaccines for onsite workers.
Executives, lawyers and consultants say that many companies remain hesitant because of a long list of legal considerations the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says must be followed before mandating vaccinations. Some companies say they are wary of setting mandates until the vaccines have received full approval by the Food and Drug Administration, which has so far granted emergency use authorization.
Jennifer Bridges, a nurse who led the Houston Methodist protest, has cited the lack of full F.D.A. approval for the shots as a reason she won’t get vaccinated.
Vaccine hesitancy has been high among frontline health care workers in the United States: Surveys showed that nearly half remained unvaccinated as of mid-March, despite being among the first to become eligible for the shots in December. A March 2021 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that health care workers had concerns about the vaccines’ newness and their possible side effects, both of which are common reasons for waiting to be vaccinated."
As the Czar has said on the show, "you know if this shot is so amazing, why are we having to bribe people to get it”, well in this instance they are coercing them into getting it.