COVID Vaccine Requirement?

Editor’s Note: Though the Echo is mostly a good-news and features blog, occasionally it will point out general news items worth taking a look at. I haven’t seen this one reported in local news sources yet. 
 
​By MATTHEW MERITT

A bill in Albany could make the new COVID vaccine mandatory, a Buffalo TV news station reported Tuesday (Dec. 8). The decision would rest with state health officials, not with individuals and parents.
 
The WGRZ news article and video are worth a few minutes. It seems if state officials decide at some point the level of immunity in the general population is too low, they may “mandate vaccination for all individuals or groups of individuals who, as shown by clinical data, are proven to be safe to receive” it. That’s apparently language from the bill, which looks to be number A11179.
 
The science behind vaccines is one thing and individual choice is another. What’s worrisome is a quote from the story in which concerns over state overreach into the personal lives of individuals and families seems to be dismissed. 

WGRZ says the bill was “submitted by New York State Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal (D) who represents the 67th Assembly District in Manhattan.” It quotes her as saying: “’This is a matter that will be decided based on science and best practices and not on people's blow back. That's why the power resides with the state department of health.’”
 
As a parent, I’d have several concerns and questions about a new vaccine and what seems to be coercion in distributing it. For example:

• When I take my children to the doctor for shots, I am given a paper explaining possible side effects. I also know that the vaccines my children are receiving have been trusted over generations.
• For a new vaccine, how can there be data on long-term effects?
• It has been claimed children don’t seem as susceptible to COVID as adults and the elderly, so why should they be forced to take a vaccine?
• I’ve read that vaccine makers may not be subject to lawsuit for problems their products create.

*I have email and phone messages in to the offices of Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R-Big Flats) and State Senator Tom O'Mara (R-Big Flats). I'll update this post when I hear back from them.   

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Here’s an item from the Governor’s Office about Vaccine Delivery

• Vaccine Delivery

Distribution
According to another item from the Governor’s Office, here’s how the first vaccine will be distributed:
The vaccine will be allocated on a regional basis. Regional estimated distributions are as follows:

• New York City -72,000
• Long Island - 26,500
• Mid-Hudson - 19,200
• Capital Region - 7,850
• North Country - 3,700
• Mohawk Valley - 4,200
• Central New York - 6,400
• Southern Tier - 4,500
• Finger Lakes - 11,150
• Western New York - 14,500

Click here for original release.