SEIU Local 200U

home | on the job

SEIU Response

For Your Health
>Take Action
>media coverage
>related links

SEIU Response
>press releases

For Workers
>Heart Risk Alert
>Fact Sheet
>Decision Tree
>Checklist
>FAQs

Smallpox Home

After the administration announced in December a plan to ask 500,000 health care workers and 10 million first responders to volunteer for the smallpox vaccine, members of SEIU along with other unions, medical experts, and some public health officials, expressed concern about the lack of adequate safeguards in the plan.

SEIU leaders met with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who was sensitive to workers' point of view and spearheaded efforts within the administration to find a solution to problems with the plan.

Nurses and other employees worked together with management in some hospitals to urge them to enact a plan that includes protections for health care workers and their patients.

In January, SEIU Nurse Alliance Co-Chair Martha Baker, RN, testified before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the protections that health care workers, emergency workers, patients, and household members need and deserve. Read her oral testimony (pdf) and a longer version (pdf) submitted for the record that includes an outline for recommended smallpox legislation.

"The Administration and Congress have protected the wealth of the drug companies who produce the vaccine, but not the health of hospital workers and the public. President Bush’s smallpox plan will put thousands of Americans at unnecessary risk."
-- Andrew L. Stern, SEIU President

Plan Lacks 'Sick Leave'
Although President Bush and Congress protected the drug companies who produce the vaccine from liability, the administration has refused to ensure that people who receive the vaccine do not face loss of income if they cannot work as a result.

Experts say approximately 1 in 3 people vaccinated will feel too sick to work and provide proper patient care for one or more days. As many as 1,000 of every million will suffer serious reactions.

Plan Lacks Screenings
In addition, the vaccine is risky for 1 in 6 Americans who are pregnant, suffer from eczema or other skin disorders, or whose immune systems are suppressed because of conditions like HIV, cancer, or transplant treatments, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Bush's plan fails to provide free, confidential screening for those conditions before workers or the public are given the vaccine. It also does not do enough to safeguard vulnerable patients who could come into contact with the 500,000 hospital workers being asked to volunteer for the vaccine.

Click here for more on health care workers' concerns.

Press Releases

Bipartisan Legislation Passed After Caregivers Spoke Out for Safer Program
[April 11, 2003]
After health care workers nationwide voiced their concerns about the administration’s plan to vaccinate millions of people against smallpox, Congress has overwhelmingly passed the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Act to compensate those caregivers, their families and patients who become disabled or die as a result of the vaccine. More...

Frontline Workers Say Compensation Bill Isn’t Enough to Protect People From Smallpox Vaccine
[March 31, 2003]
As House Republicans force a quick up or down vote on an insufficient compensation package for health care workers who are injured or die as a result of their smallpox immunizations, SEIU is calling for the suspension of any further vaccinations until Congress passes bipartisan legislation to protect more workers, patients and family members from becoming victims of the vaccine. More...

Bush Administration Takes Step Forward With Compensation for Smallpox Vaccine Victims
[March 6, 2003]
As the Bush Administration announced a plan to compensate people who are disabled or die as a result of the smallpox vaccine, the nation's largest health care union urged elected leaders from both sides of the political aisle to work together on legislation that would ensure that health care workers, first responders, and the public are protected as quickly as possible. More...

Members of Congress Pick Up Where Bush Left Off by Introducing Smallpox Vaccine Legislation That Would Protect Health Workers and Patients
[Feb 14, 2003]
Giving the ailing smallpox vaccine program a much needed booster, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) with original co-sponsors Reps. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Lois Capps (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), have introduced legislation in the House that would address many of the issues that are causing President Bush’s plan to vaccinate 500,000 health care workers against smallpox to stall. More...

Civilian Health Care Workers Who Volunteer for Smallpox Vaccine Need Same Protection as Military Personnel
[Feb 3, 2003]
News that two servicemen became seriously ill after getting the smallpox vaccine shows why President Bush and Congress need to act now to protect health care workers who are being asked to volunteer for the vaccine. More...

Congress to Hold Hearings on Vaccine Plan; Front-line Nurse Among Those to Testify on How the Vaccine Plan Could Be Safer for Workers, Patients
[Jan 27, 2003]
As President Bush’s plan to vaccinate 500,000 health workers against smallpox has gotten off to a shaky start, Congress will hold a pair of hearings this week to examine how lawmakers can ensure the vaccination plan is safe and effective. More...

As Bush Administration Says It Wants to Help Vaccine Victims, Health Care Workers Want to Make Sure Smallpox Protections Cover Patients, Too
[Jan 23, 2003]
A statement from Andrew L. Stern, SEIU president. More...

Medical Experts Join Health Care Workers in Urging Caution on Smallpox Vaccination Program
[Jan 17, 2003]
Institute of Medicine report echoes health care workers’ calls for better safeguards, compensation for victims, and decisions based on medicine, not politics. More...

As Medical Panel Questions Smallpox Plan…Health Care Workers Call on President Bush to Solve Problems Before Asking Them to Put Their Health and Their Patients at Risk
[Jan 16, 2003]
As a panel of experts created by the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) adds its voice to the growing concerns about President Bush's smallpox vaccination plan, the nation's largest health care union is calling on the President and Congress to put better protections for workers and patients in place before vaccinations begin. More...

As Bush Plan for Mass Smallpox Vaccinations Stirs Controversy, SEIU Says Hospital Workers, Patients Will Face Unnecessary Risk
[Dec 13, 2002]
WASHINGTON, DC – Ignoring health professionals’ mounting concerns, President Bush confirmed today that health workers will be the first to receive the controversial smallpox vaccine but refused to take steps to protect them, their families, and their patients from unnecessary risks.

With 1.5 million members, SEIU is the largest union of health care workers in the United States and the largest union in the AFL-CIO. SEIU’s members include 110,000 nurses and 20,000 doctors, many of whom work in hospitals and public health settings.