A New York City waitress was fired from her job after she told her supervisors that she wanted to wait before getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
Bonnie Jacobson of Brooklyn said she was unexpectedly released from Red Hook Tavern on Monday, days after expressing concern about how the vaccine affects fertility.
Jacobson said she and her husband recently started trying to have a child, but their plans were suspended after she lost her job in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After she started working at the tavern in August, she and her husband started planning a child again.
“I support the vaccine. I am not, as they say, an antivaxxer,” Jacobson said in a telephone interview on Wednesday, telling NBC News that she feels there is still a lack of research on how the vaccine affects pregnant women.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “the real risks of mRNA vaccines for pregnant women and their fetuses are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women.”
The agency said the researchers have these studies planned and that both Pfizer and Moderna are monitoring people in clinical trials who became pregnant.
Jacobson, 34, said her manager initially understood her concerns and told her that it was not necessary to be vaccinated.
But days later, the tavern changed course and on February 12, workers received an email stating that vaccines were mandatory.
“We inform you that we will require that all employees receive the vaccination,” the email provided by Jacobson told NBC News.
“This will be mandatory for all existing employees and any new hires. The exception to this policy will be if your own health or disability prohibits you from getting this vaccination. We recommend that you consult your health care professional to determine if getting a vaccine is right for you. you. “
Jacobson said he sent an email to his job and said that he did not want to get the vaccine at this time and that he needed more time.
“Although I fully support the vaccine and understand its importance, I believe it is a very personal choice. I really hope that this choice does not affect my job at the Red Hook Tavern, ”she wrote to the boss. “Furthermore, when there is more research to support that it does not affect fertility, I would reconsider my position.”
Two days after sending her e-mail, she was informed that she had been fired.
“It was really impersonal. I was honestly shocked,” she said. “My instinctive reaction was just to say, ‘Okay. Okay, I’ll answer. I need my job. ‘ But that did not please me. I thought, ‘Actually, I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think that’s the choice I need to make here. ‘ “
Jacobson said he does not want his job back, but hopes to encourage other companies to approach mandatory vaccinations differently.
“I think it’s important for other business owners to take this with caution and to take into account the feelings of their employees, especially if their employees have been working for you, putting themselves in danger during a pandemic,” she said.
Red Hook Tavern owner Billy Durney acknowledged that the situation could have been handled differently.
“Since New York State allowed restaurant workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to put a plan in place to keep our staff and guests safe. No one has faced these challenges before and we made the decision that we thought would be the best protection for everyone, “he said in an emailed statement.
“And now we realize that we need to update our policy so that it is clear to our team how the process works and what we can do to support them. We are making these changes immediately ”.
