flu and H1N1 vaccine: can they make us?

A recent NYS mandate that all health care works get both a seasonal flu shot and an H1N1 vaccine has stirred some controversy. Hospital workers have objected to making the two shots a requirement for continued employment, saying that it's "anti-American" for medical treatment (or in this case, prophylaxis) be mandated. The state has countered that in the past when the vaccine was voluntary, only 40% of workers got it. I have nurse friends who are passionate about public health who have up until now declined to get the shot. They question its efficacy in young, non-immunocommpromised workers, and point out that the shot only contains the fews strains epidemiologists guess will be most prevalent this season, and thus is far from a sure thing.

I believe (and I may be wrong) that as a student working in health care, I am subject to the same mandate. I am certainly required to get both shots. A few weeks ago, my school notified all health care graduate students (nursing, medical, dental, and possibly the physical therapists) that we were required to get the seasonal flu shot ASAP and could not do our clinical rotations, mandatory as a part of the curriculum, without them. Those students who had student health insurance could get the shots at student health services; those who did not had to go elsewhere. I ended up going to an NYS Department of Health site to get mine. I am not sure what I will do when H1N1 comes out. Frankly, I felt that if they were going to require I get the shot, they should have at least offered me the convenience of paying for it at student health services, as they offer us the convenience of buying books at the campus bookstore.

Anyway, to the few people who read this blog, I would be interested to hear what you all think. Should it be mandatory for nurses, doctors, and everyone else, to get the flu shot by order of NYS?