Dozens Of SD Health Care Workers Rally Against Vaccine Mandate

San Diego CA

10 August, 2021

2:56 PM

Description

SAN DIEGO, CA — Last week, California announced that all health care workers would have to get inoculated by Sept. 30. The order prompted more than 50 people to gather in front of a hospital in San Diego Monday. The mandate, which came down on Thursday, is one of the strictest moves seen in the nation to drive up vaccination rates in the state as the delta coronavirus variant fuels a summer spike in cases. "We've been taking care of patients the past 18 months whether there was a vaccine or not and we've done it safely and will continue to do it safely," a Nurse Tawny Buettner, who works at Rady Children's Hospital, told NBC San Diego on Monday. Footage posted to social media showed dozens of picketers gathered outside of Rady Children's Hospital on Monday morning. A smaller group of counter-protesters also joined the demonstration, with two people holding up a large banner reading "Science is Pro-Vax." As more people gathered outside the hospital and lined the sidewalks, police arrived to monitor the demonstration. Those rallying against the mandate carried signs reading "Wait," and "Don't experiment on our kids," while some chanted "my body, my choice." Other adjacent protests took place in Orange and Riverside counties on Monday, according to multiple reports. "I've risked my life for people that have had COVID over the last 18 months," said a man who told KTLA he has worked in an Orange County emergency room for 12 years. "I've put up a fight for them and I don't have any desire to force anything on anybody else," he said. Workers must be vaccinated if they work in health care settings including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, psychiatric hospitals, adult day cares, ambulatory surgery centers, substance abuse treatment centers, clinics, doctor's offices, dialysis centers, hospice facilities and mental health facilities, according to the order. READ MORE: CA To Require Vaccines For All Health Care Workers Few exemptions were offered in the details of the new order other than those relating to religious beliefs or specific medical conditions. Anyone seeking a medical exemption must also give their employer a written statement signed by a doctor, nurse or another medical professional, the state said last week. The state's positivity rate had been inching up steadily each week, illustrating a rate of spread that hasn't been seen in months. On Monday, it was 6.3 percent, down from 6.7 percent last week. Case rates became 470 percent higher among those unvaccinated than in those who are unvaccinated, the state reported Monday. For the week of July 31, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians was 33 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians was significantly lower at 7 per 100,000 per day, the state said. Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the latest surge a "pandemic of the unvaccinated," and the state has placed blame on health care workers unwilling to get the jab. "Increasing numbers of health care workers are among the new positive cases, despite vaccinations being prioritized for this group when vaccines initially became available," the order said.