New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order last night that authorized the use of National Guard troops to replace healthcare workers fired for refusing to get vaccinated per the state’s mandate:
Last night, I took bold action and signed an executive order that will alleviate potential staffing shortages in our hospitals and other health care facilities across New York State.
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— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 28, 2021
More than 80,000 are at risk of getting fired right now:
CBS NEWS: New York officials say 16% of state's hospital workers not fully vaccinated, thus over 83,000 at risk of termination
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) September 28, 2021
So, in other words, New York is going to replace experienced workers with people who have to learn a hospital’s procedures all in the name of safety?
Swapping out experienced nurses with nat guard who are not familiar with a hospital's systems, local ways of doing things & emerg protocols has risks.
Recognize natural imm, instead of demonizing our heroes who put their lives on the line and got Covid.https://t.co/3JKenx9Yqo
— Marty Makary MD, MPH (@MartyMakary) September 27, 2021
This is just dumb:
As COVID-19 heads north, New York would rather send in the National Guard than let unvaccinated people work in its health care system. https://t.co/f9RbO0C2nZ
— reason (@reason) September 28, 2021
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And it’s not even clear if the National Guard members will be vaccinated. From NGAUS:
The Army has outlined its plan to comply with the Defense Department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate amid a spike in COVID-19 deaths among members of the military.
The service was the last to announce its plans after Pentagon leaders announced a vaccine would be mandatory last month. The Army timeline is the longest of the services, with active-duty soldiers having until Dec. 15, 2021, to be fully vaccinated. Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers will have until June 30, 2022.
Guard airmen will have until Dec. 2 to be fully vaccinated, the Air Force previously announced. Active-duty airmen have until Nov. 2. The Navy also previously announced its timeline for Marines and Navy personnel, with active-duty personnel due to be vaccinated by Nov. 28 and all reservists by Dec. 28.
New York Rep. Claudia Tenney tweeted, “We went from banging pots and pans to honor our healthcare workers to firing & denying unemployment benefits rather quick, didn’t we?”:
We went from banging pots and pans to honor our healthcare workers to firing & denying unemployment benefits rather quick, didn’t we?
— Claudia Tenney (@claudiatenney) September 29, 2021
And Rep. Thomas Massie pointed out that the absurdity of it all, noting that activating a National Guard member who is a healthcare worker in his or her civilian capacity does not increase the number of civilian healthcare workers:
If a member of the National Guard is a healthcare worker in his or her civilian capacity, & gets activated by a governor to replace a private healthcare worker (who was fired due to a vaccine mandate), how does that increase the number of civilian healthcare workers ? It doesn’t.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 27, 2021
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