Editor’s Note: Please click here to view Letter

Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C,I,SAM-Meco) was joined by his Assembly Minority colleagues requesting the State Department of Health and Governor Hochul reverse the mandate that requires healthcare workers to get vaccinated. With about one-fourth of total healthcare workers unvaccinated, and learning that many concerned health care workers will be terminated due to forced vaccinations, Smullen hopes to prevent another rural healthcare crisis by keeping our frontline workers working and not infringing on their constitutional rights.

“The issue of vaccination is one of personal choice.It doesn’t matter if you’re a construction worker or an electrician or a politician or a healthcare worker,” Smullen said. “With my colleagues and I predicting that one-fourth of our total healthcare workforce may be terminated if mandated to receive vaccinations, we must strongly reconsider whether this is the best option for the state as a whole.”

“Part of the pandemic crisis of 2020 was that our hospitals and healthcare systems were overwhelmed. I can’t imagine how bad it would be if we had even fewer healthcare workers to continue to take care of people who are contracting COVID-19 or its variants,” Smullen concluded.