Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
To the Editor:
I am writing this letter in question of the Governor’s booster mandate in New York State. I am a registered nurse working at Glens Falls Hospital for more than 25 years. I am fully vaccinated and recently recovered from Covid a few weeks ago.
I am now being forced to take a Covid booster when technically I just had the best booster by contracting the virus and recovering. There is no scientific data proving that receiving a booster after being fully vaccinated and then clear ing the virus is of any health benefit to me or anyone else.
In September, the FDA Safety Advisory Panel met to discuss the booster for Covid. There were 17 people on this Advisory Panel and all but one person voted against recommending a booster for the general public.
It was stated that the data showed it was not effective in preventing serious disease from Covid and should be left for the elderly over 65, the immunocompromised, or people over 50 with 4 or more co-morbidities.
There were 2 long-time FDA employees who ended up leaving the FDA over the booster issue. I will not name them as I do not have that permission, but they can be found online.
Our initial vaccine continues to protect us from serious illness from Covid and hospitalization. All staff at the hospital have been fully vaccinated to date, but now many of the staff are out with the virus Omicron variant.
This means that this population of the staff are now fully vaccinated and have natural immunity. Where is the scientific evidence or data proving that a booster now will be of any benefit to this population? There is data that shows the booster wanes after 3 months anyway. Are we going to booster every 3 months? Is that the goal?
The booster also does not protect us from contracting or transmitting the virus as we can all witness that fact. What is the reason for receiving a booster when the data shows that both vaccination and acquired natural immunity is the best protection you can have at this point.
The other issue in question for me is the wait time from recovering from Covid and receiving a booster injection. Much of the research suggests waiting 3-6 months after recovering from Covid to receive another vaccine. I asked if I could wait the 3 months before receiving booster and was told no.
Now public health officials are changing the wait period and saying you can receive the booster as soon as your symptoms resolve. It certainly seems like new and different guidelines and recommendations pop up every day. Even the public health officials cannot agree on the best approach.
At this point, 2 years into the pandemic, the booster should be an individual choice and my question is why isn’t it a choice. It is simple human psychology that if you give people a choice more would come forward and there would be no need to coerce or force with a mandate. Most people push back when being forced to do something they are unsure about.
Those who wish to receive a third dose should have that option. It is equally difficult to believe that this third dose booster is also mandated by the Governor for healthy fully vaccinated college students. My son is a healthy 29 year old in a PhD program who is fully vaccinated and is presently recovering from Covid, and still they are forcing him to take a booster even with the risk of myocarditis in his age group. Here it is clear that the risk outweighs the benefit.
This is being treated as if “one size fits all,” and all clinicians and doctors know that the one size fits all approach does not work when treating patients.
We do not have a choice with the “vaccinate or terminate” position. We have been fully vaccinated, have natural immunity and now we are going to be denied our livelihood or education because we do not feel it is necessary at this time for a third booster dose. This certainly feels like medical tyranny.
If anyone can provide me with the medical data showing evidence-based reasoning for taking a third booster shot after being fully vaccinated and recovering from Covid, I would certainly consider the booster.
People will lose their jobs, college students denied their education and this mandate now will also exacerbate the already critical nursing and staffing shortage going on in the hospital right now.
I have written to the Governor numerous times and other politicians to no avail. I am begging for someone to listen to this plea not only for me but for all my colleagues, the hospital, the college students and all those who are being forced to take a booster with no evidence to back up the benefit of this.
I thank you for taking the time to read my letter and consider this position on the boosters. I urge Governor Hochul to please rescind this mandate. It is only causing more angst among the public and that is not what is needed at this time.
— Joanna Pennachio, Queensbury
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