I was appalled by the declaration by state Rep. Lauren Libby that “This is war!” made in reference to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in Maine at an anti-vaccine rally this past week (“Maine lawmaker insists ‘this is war’ to block vaccine mandates,” Aug. 18).

As a Registered Nurse, Libby knows better than to assert that COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare workers are “… an incredibly dangerous precedent.” Like me, she went to a nursing school and then has worked for health care employers throughout her nursing career that have required proof of either immunity or vaccination against several communicable diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis B, to name a few.

Why? Because as nurses our profession’s Code of Ethics states “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, community, or population.” Being vaccinated against communicable diseases, including the safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine, provides needed protection to our individual patients and their family members — not to mention ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Rep. Libby is out to score partisan political points, not provide factual health information. Her loud declarations aside, the vast majority of nurses and other health care professionals in Maine seek to take all safe, effective actions to end the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic here and across the globe — including rolling up our sleeves and getting the shots that protect our patients.

 

Paul Kuehnert, RN

Hallowell

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