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For the estimated 10 percent of Santa Barbara County healthcare workers who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID, the state’s new requirement – which requires proof of vaccination from September 30 – may force them to quit their job unless they are vaccinated or benefit from an elusive medical or religious exemption.
One of those healthcare workers is Dr. Mark Abate, a hematologist and oncologist who has practiced in Santa Barbara for over 33 years with the Sansum Medical Clinic, the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, and the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
When the California Department of Public Health announced the vaccine requirement for healthcare workers in early August, the state was in the midst of another spike in cases due to the rapidly spreading Delta variant, with rates cases multiplied by nine in two months. Healthcare facilities are “high-risk facilities”, said state public health director Tomás J. Aragón, where COVID-19 outbreaks can have “serious consequences for vulnerable populations”, including hospitalization, serious illness and death. In an effort to protect both workers and patients, the state instituted this requirement and said all healthcare workers must be vaccinated by September 30.
Abate was one of the first county health professionals to publicly oppose the warrant when he commented at a supervisory board meeting in August. He is currently seeking a religious exemption – one of two options to circumvent the requirement – and spoke to the Independent why he chooses not to be vaccinated and what consequences will await the entry into force of the mandate.
“I am personally against the current vaccine and testing mandates that currently affect workers and healthcare professionals in the state of California,” Abate said. “I am personally against any form of vaccination warrant or passport. I believe they divide and do a lot more harm than good.
According to the latest estimates from Cottage Health, 90 percent of all employees have already been vaccinated and 80 percent have voluntarily been vaccinated before the mandate was announced. Abate is one of the few medical doctors to have worked without being vaccinated; current hospital regulations require it to be negative twice a week to be cleared.
“I don’t think there are a lot of doctors who are in this situation. I think the vast majority of doctors have accepted the vaccination, ”said Abate.
His choice is based on personal values, both medical and religious. He doesn’t think of himself as “anti-vax,” but rather believes that every person should have the right to accept or refuse COVID vaccines.
“I am not against the vaccine. I would say the majority of my friends, colleagues and family have taken the vaccine, but I think it should depend on the person, ”he said. “I was not vaccinated the whole time, and it was safe to train. Now all of a sudden after September 30 it’s not safe if I’m not vaccinated, ”he said.
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Even though Abate is granted a religious exemption – which is at the sole discretion of the healthcare facility – he will still be tested twice a week, which he says is “discrimination” against those who are not vaccinated. . “If they were really interested in safety, everyone should be tested,” he said.
As a practicing Catholic, Abate argues that vaccines used “cell lines and fetal tissue” during developmental stages, which goes against his religious beliefs.
James Lawler, MD, board-certified infectious disease expert, wrote in August: “No, COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any aborted fetal cells. However, fetal cell lines – cells grown in a laboratory from aborted fetal cells collected generations ago – have been used in testing during the research and development of mRNA vaccines and during vaccine production. Johnson & Johnson. “
Lawler, also a vocal Catholic, called the description of the ongoing fetal tissue harvest to create vaccines “dishonest sensationalism,” and pointed to Vatican guidelines that allow Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines that use bona fide fetal cell lines.
Abate said the religious exemption request process was a one-stop-shop and he didn’t have to provide a letter from his priest, even though he was prepared to prepare one. So far, he has not received a response regarding the approval. The administration, he said, let him hang. “They won’t answer about the exemptions – how do you get them? Who decides ? When will I hear?
If he is denied a religious exemption, he considers seeking a medical one, but if he is denied both, he will not be able to work. “If I don’t benefit from either of these exemptions, as per the terms of reference, not only can I not practice at Samsun and Cottage; I can’t practice medicine anywhere in the state.
This general mandate is overbroad, he said. “The government should educate the public in a balanced way and provide easy access to immunization for all who choose, but never force, force or threaten to lose their jobs.”
After September 30, his only option may be legal recourse, which nine Maine health care workers are currently grappling with in federal court.
When the warrant was announced, the Chief Medical Officer of the Sansum Clinic, Dr Kurt Ransohoff, reiterated the safety of the vaccines. “Vaccinations are extremely effective in preventing a person from ending up in hospital with COVID-19 or dying from this disease,” Ransohoff said. “They are effective in preventing any form of COVID-19 infection, but in preventing very poor outcomes, these vaccines are remarkably effective. “
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