On Friday, October 16, a judge temporarily blocked the mandate that all health care workers (HCWs) in NYS get both a seasonal flu and a swine flu vaccine before November 30 or face disciplinary action. The judge granted a "temporary restraining order", which I gather means the requirement was temporarily suspended. A further hearing was scheduled for October 30, when the health department would have had the chance to continue making its case.
However, it's doubtful that that hearing will ever take place, since on Thursday, October 22, Governor Paterson rescinded the mandate that all HCWs get the vaccine due to a more limited supply of the vaccine than anticipated. The CDC has thus far only been able to produce about 23% of the anticipated amount of H1N1 vaccine, and the state government has decided it's more important to vaccinate those at risk of becoming seriously ill from the disease (pregnant women, for example) than those at risk of transmitting the disease.
The requirement sparked controversy from the beginning, with health care workers protesting in front of the capitol building and lawsuits filed by three separate groups. Interestingly, each group represented a different demographic: one was nurses, one was public employees, and one was teachers.
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