Mills’ vaccine mandate draws criticism from Maine medical workers
(The Center Square) – Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers is drawing strong opposition from front line medical workers who say it will exacerbate chronic staffing shortages.
Under Mills’ order, health care workers in the state have until Oct. 1 to be fully vaccinated against the virus. The requirement includes health care workers in nursing homes and other long term care facilities, firefighters, emergency medical service organizations and dental workers. Only medical exemptions will be allowed, not religious or philosophical.
Mills said the new rules are needed to prevent further outbreaks as the state battles a resurgence of the virus that has contributed to a rise in new infections and hospitalizations.
“With this requirement, we’re protecting health care workers,” she said. “We’re protecting their patients, including our most vulnerable people, and we’re protecting our health care capacity.”
But the new mandate has drawn opposition from front line medical workers who say it will result in an exodus of trained workers at a time when staffing levels are already chronically low.
“We believe this rule has been instituted without input or feedback from the fire service and with little consideration of the unintended consequences,” Darrell White, president of the Maine Fire Chiefs’ Association, wrote in a recent letter opposing the rules. “Fire and EMS leaders from across the state have expressed significant concerns about the loss of staff who have deep-rooted religious or philosophical objections to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.”
White added that the timeline for the new rule “leaves only a few weeks for EMS providers to make life changing decisions about their health, beliefs, and the future of their careers in EMS.”
Mills said the state has the authority to issue the mandate under an existing law requiring vaccines such as measles, mumps and rubella and other infectious diseases for health care workers.
“You and your family have every right to expect that everybody who cares for you in that institution, in that facility, is fully vaccinated, not only against mumps and measles and influenza and chickenpox, but against this deadly, deadly virus,” Mills said.
The new vaccine mandate is backed by the Maine Medical Association and Maine Hospital Association and several other health care groups, which say it will improve public health.
Both of Maine’s two largest hospital systems, MaineHealth and Northern Light Health, recently announced that they will require health care workers to get the vaccine.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is requiring COVID-19 vaccines for all health care employees who work for the federal government.
Republicans have blasted Mills’ mandate, arguing that employers – and not the government – should be setting requirements on employee vaccinations.
“Government should make the case for vaccines, but not try to force the decision through government mandates and threats,” House Republican Leader Kathleen Dillingham said in the Republican Party’s weekly radio address. “Our government was instituted to preserve our natural rights to life and liberty. It was not instituted to make decisions on our behalf or in our best interest.”
But Nirav D. Shah, director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, says the new mandate is crucial to protecting front line medical workers against the virus.
“Scientific data show that vaccination is our best protection against all strains of the virus that causes COVID-19,” Shah said in a recent video message. “Given the elevated risk posed by the Delta variant, this is a prudent step in preventing COVID-19 from putting more Maine people at risk, especially those who care for others.”
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
