General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Pregnant nurse: I was fired for refusing flu vaccine [View all]hunter
(40,752 posts)We need a gentle economic system.
One that could let her take leave when she is pregnant or nursing her baby and then invite her back when she's ready to work again.
I get flu shots because I don't want to be the 145 pound 6'4" skeleton-man in a hospital bed ever again. Nobody wants to see me at my worst. I'm pretty gross and disgusting in a hospital bed and I get mean and unreasonable too. Not so bad as my grandma, but that's not saying much. She'd rip out her IV's, bite people, and run out into the hospital parking lot naked. One of my brothers threw a hospital mattress out the window during the worst phase of his cancer treatments. Yet he lives today. They cured him, removing a few parts, poisoning him with toxic chemicals that made his hair fall out and his ass bleed. It was a wild ride.
As an occasional health care worker I get the flu shots because I don't want to pass any flu on to anyone else, not if I can help it, especially someone in worse shape than I happen to be in. (My hyperactive asthmatic lungs can be serious assholes when infected.)
There ought to be some accommodations made for pregnant women with concerns, "realistic" concerns or not.
One of my silly kids is home from college this Christmas break, in the other room, with the flu. Did not get the shot, not free, not even a thirty dollar grocery store pharmacy shot I would have gladly paid for.
It's not random shit, just semi-random shit. But our society ought to accommodate much more random shit than it does.
A pregnant woman with a history of miscarriages who doesn't want to get a flu shot ought to be be a person our society can deal with without much fuss, without any harsh judgments.