NEW YORK, New York, December 7, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A survey asking New York City firefighters whether or not they will take a COVID-19 vaccine has revealed that most would not accept the Pfizer-developed jab, in spite of being amongst the first group of people to be offered the vaccine, after healthcare workers.
Over 2,000 firefighters participated in the survey, representing about a quarter of the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) membership. When asked about why 55% of UFA members would refuse the vaccine, the president of the UFA, Andrew Ansbro, explained: “The reasons for that are probably the same reasons everyone else doesn't want it: it is a new vaccine, they don't have enough information.”
It is not only FDNY firefighters who have grave concerns about the safety of the vaccines currently in development and deployment. Highly qualified public health officials and even a former chief scientist of Pfizer, Dr. Mike Yeadon, have raised their voices over the “significant safety concerns expressed by an increasing number of renowned scientists against the vaccine and the study design.”
Ansbro has himself stated that he will be taking the vaccine and he encourages other firefighters to do the same, though he says the UFA won’t mandate uptake: “As a union, we are encouraging our members to get the vaccine, but we are defending that right to make that choice.”
Even though Ansbro has said that individual firefighter’s right not to take the vaccine will be upheld, he went on to say that “[w]e want to get those numbers [taking the vaccine] up and part of it is going to make sure we don't fall short of the 45% by having an ineffective delivery system, but also we need to educate and encourage our members to get the vaccination.”