-- As Bush Plan for Mass Smallpox Vaccinations Stirs Controversy ... Nation's Large --
/FROM PR NEWSWIRE WASHINGTON DC 202-347-5155/
TO LABOR, MEDICAL/HEALTH AND POLITICAL EDITORS:
As Bush Plan for Mass Smallpox Vaccinations Stirs
Controversy ... Nation's Largest Health Care Organization
Says Hospital Workers, Patients Will Face Unnecessary Risk
'The Administration and Congress Have Protected the Wealth of the Drug
Companies who Produce the Vaccine, but not the Health of Hospital
Workers and the Public. President Bush's Smallpox Plan
Will Put Thousands of Americans at Unnecessary Risk.'
-- Andrew L. Stern, SEIU President
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Ignoring health professionals'
mounting concerns, President Bush confirmed today that health workers will be
the first to receive the controversial smallpox vaccine but refused to take
steps to protect them, their families, and their patients from unnecessary
risks.
"President Bush's smallpox plan puts hospital workers and their patients
at unnecessary risk," said Andrew L. Stern, President of the 1.5 million
member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest
health care organization.
The vaccine is risky for 1 in 6 Americans who are pregnant, suffer from
eczema or other skin disorders, or whose immune systems are suppressed because
of conditions like HIV, cancer, or transplant treatments, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Bush's plan fails to
provide free, confidential screening for those conditions before workers or
the public are given the vaccine. It also does not do enough to safeguard
vulnerable patients who could come into contact with the 500,000 hospital
workers being asked to volunteer for the vaccine.
"Health care workers want to be able to care for patients if a smallpox
outbreak occurs," said Diane Sosne, RN, National Co-chair of the SEIU Nurse
Alliance. "But it is wrong to put caregivers, their patients, and their
families at risk when there is a safer way."
Although President Bush and Congress protected the drug companies who
produce the vaccine from liability, the administration has refused to ensure
that people who receive the vaccine do not face loss of income if they cannot
work as a result. Experts say approximately 1 in 3 people vaccinated will feel
too sick to work and provide proper patient care for one or more days. As many
as 1 in 10 could experience life-threatening reactions.
People who are injured by childhood immunizations have a simple and fair
way to get help through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, but no such
system will be available for people receiving the smallpox vaccine.
After health workers receive the vaccine, the Bush plan calls for millions
of firefighters, police, and other "first responders" to be vaccinated. In
about a year, the vaccine will be offered to the public.
SEIU has asked President Bush to monitor the initial volunteers to receive
the vaccine, track their response, and make that information available so the
public can make an informed decision about whether they want to receive the
vaccine.
"No one should get this vaccine without getting screened and understanding
the risk for themselves and their family," said Stern. "But under this plan,
only people who can afford to pay for the tests or whose insurance might cover
it will be protected."
SEIU leaders have met with federal, state, and local officials, and nurses
and other employees are working together with management in some hospitals to
urge them to enact a safe vaccine plan.
For more information on what health care workers want in a vaccine plan,
see the following sheet, or visit seiusmallpox.org .
A smallpox plan that protects health care workers and their patients
would:
* Educate workers about the risks for them, their patients, and their
families, and ensure that they have the freedom to decline the vaccine
without being discriminated against at work.
* Provide free and confidential screening for everyone volunteering for
the vaccine -- to make sure no one who is particularly vulnerable is
given the vaccine.
* Protect vulnerable patients from being exposed to workers who have had
the vaccine, and inform them of the safeguards that have been put into
place.
* Ensure that people who receive the vaccine do not face loss of income if
they can't work as a result. Experts say approximately 1 in 3 people who
are vaccinated will feel too sick to work and provide proper patient
care for one or more days.
* Compensate people injured by the vaccine. As many as 10 percent of the
people receiving the vaccine could have a life threatening reaction, and
one or more people could die.
* Administer the vaccine with safe needles. The 50 million needles the
government plans to ship with the vaccine do not comply with the federal
law passed to protect against HIV and hepatitis being transmitted from
accidental needle sticks. Individual hospitals can purchase safer
needles for only pennies more per needle.
* Monitor volunteers who receive the vaccine to protect any accidental
transmission of the vaccinia virus and so any adverse effects can be
tracked by the federal government so the public can fully evaluate the
risk of the vaccine.
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SOURCE Service Employees International Union
/NOTE TO EDITORS: Nurses, doctors, and other health workers throughout
thecountry are available to talk about their concerns. To schedule interviews,
orfor more information about how health care workers united in the
ServiceEmployees International Union (SEIU) are working together for a
bettersmallpox vaccination plan, contact TJ Michels, (202) 898-3321/
/CONTACT: TJ Michels, +1-202-898-3321, or Christy Hawkins
Davis,+1-202-746-6962, both of Service Employees International Union/
/Web site: seiu.orghttp://www.seiusmallpox.org/
13-Dec-2002 19:15:00 GMT
Source PRN - PR Newswire |
