Police Unions Fights Against Mandatory Vaccination
Police Unions all over the country have joined other professional labor unions to resist the mandatory vaccination requirements imposed by the government. The move comes after Democratic-led states in made it a mandatory requirement for all city staff (including police officers) to be inoculated against the COVID-19 disease. The White House has also proposed the push to increase its vaccination speed, starting with local mandates.
Police unions promised to take legal action if the government continued with this move. In an interview, John Catanzara, president of the police union revealed that his members did not want to be mandated to be vaccinated. The union president cited the fact that the vaccine lacked intense scholarly backing on the long-term effects and consequences. Catanzara, considered it wrong for government agencies to mandate citizens to get the vaccine without presenting a statistical baseline.
While opposing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations among the police, the union president likened the government’s mandates to other great tragedies. The bold Catanzara revealed that the United States should not be turned into Nazi Germany where people were blindly persuaded to take certain medications with the false promise that they would not be hurt.
The opposition shown by Catanzara is a clear indication of the prevailing trend in the country’s law enforcement agencies. Questions have emerged whether the police unions’ move was fueled by the announcement from the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) which indicated that 644 police officers had succumbed to the virus by 10th September.
On the other hand, Jim Pasco, FOP executive director revealed that the union was ready to stand with its members and cushion them from taking mandatory vaccinations. According to Pasco, taking the vaccine should be an individual choice. Similarly, an attorney of the Portland Police Association has revealed that most of the first responders strongly oppose the vaccination mandates and are ready to leave the profession if the mandate continues.
