Of vaccination and idiotic nurses

On the news this morning: the nurses are angry because apparently, the Health minister has declared that if some nurses refused to get the vaccination for A H1N1 flu, they might be returned home without pay.

I was outraged. But not at the minister - at the nurses.

They work in health care. They are exposed to all the kind of viruses and diseases there are and treat other sick people whose immune system is weaker than normal, and they refuse to get vaccinated?????? *I* wouldn't want to be treated by a nurse who could have caught diseases from the 35 other patients she's visited that day!!!! My co-worker M. remained silent when I vehemently told her that, then said she worked in health care for a time and understood that nurses could be angry at being forced to get vaccinated against their will. Well, I think it is unacceptable that vaccination isn't MANDATORY for *all* employees in health care, from janitors to heart surgeons. I always assumed it was and was once again apalled and very worried to learn it obviously wasn't the case. There are no risks to take with people's health, and nurses and doctors play too crititcal a role to be allowed to become vectors of contagion themselves. Period.