Here we go again! Mandatory FLU Shots....

RI health workers now required to get flu shots

By ERIKA NIEDOWSKI
Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Rhode Island health care workers will have to get flu shots under a new policy announced Friday, but the regulations could be challenged by a union that represents nurses and others in the industry.

The Department of Health said health care workers, trainees and others who have regular, direct contact with patients, including volunteers, must be immunized.

Workers with a medical reason for not getting the shot may get an exemption with a doctor's note, the health department said. So may those who don't have a medical reason but still don't want to be vaccinated. They will have to submit a form saying they refuse the shot and will wear a surgical mask while visiting patients when flu is considered widespread.

Chas Walker, a spokesman for a union representing health care workers that opposes mandated flu shots, said his group is still reviewing the policy and considering its options. He said the union supports raising the vaccination rate among its membership but that it wants to do so through a voluntary campaign, not a mandate that inspires "animosity."

[link to hosted.ap.org]