Caregivers encouraged to take new vaccines in the ongoing fight to curb virus spread

HARTFORD – The New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU, fully supports the implementation of safe COVID-19 vaccination for frontline caregivers.

The Union recommends that all District 1199 members working in hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, home care and providing other sensitive health care services take the vaccine as soon it becomes available to them. After much sacrifice and suffering on the front lines of COVID-19, our members should have priority access to the newly deployed vaccines.

“District 1199 supports any and all safe and effective vaccines. No one deserves the vaccine more than our members. We want our members to be as safe and protected as possible”, said Union president Rob Baril on Monday. “As president of 1199 New England, I encourage all our members to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves, their families, their communities and the people they care for every day.”

The Union understands that some members have concerns with the vaccine. However, the Union relies on expert guidance from the Service Employees International Union that is based on extensive research to support wide vaccination for all members.

“We are working together with the state, employers and with our international Union, SEIU, to get this information out to our members as quickly as possible,” said Baril. “We look forward to support the efforts of vaccination and play an important role in educating both our members and the general public on this crucial matter.”

SEIU 1199 New England is the largest health care Union in Connecticut, representing some 26,000 health care workers in long-term care, hospitals, and state health care workers.

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Additional Information added Wednesday, December 16th 2020

Below is the link to a virtual town hall discussion put together by the leaders of SEIU, AFSCME and AFT. It is moderated by David Michaels, epidemiologist and professor in the Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health and Epidemiology at the Milken Institute School of Public Health of the George Washington University.

The town hall includes three of the leading experts on the vaccine development:

• Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration
• Nancy Messonnier, MD, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
• Patricia Whitley-Williams, M.D., FAAP from the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School an renowned infectious disease specialist and respected voice on healthcare equity

The link to the video is here: http://vimeo.com/aftunion/review/486853626/6e908e7955