Unvaccinated health worker awaits judge’s decision
(29 Sep 2021) An upstate New York physical therapist who has been given a temporary religious execption from having to get a COVID vacciation is confident a judge will uphold the exemption when the court rules in early October. A federal judge is considering a legal challenge that such exemptions are constitutionally required. "Most of my religious exemption was based on the fact that I was a COVID provider for the last year and a half, I didn't come down with it," Anna Petti said. "I believe that God protected me the whole time that that I was in the hospital." Petti has been a physical therapist for 15 years. She works at a small hospital in Bath New York. During the height of the pandemic in March 2020, the hospital closed the outpatient clinic she worked in. She was reassigned to the hospitals inpatient facility and nursing home. "If they were to come down and say that they were not allowing religious exemptions, and if I don't get the vaccine, then I would be terminated from my position," Petti said. Petti and her husband rely on the income and health insurance from her job to support their three children. Petti's choice to not get vaccinated was a family decision. She admits being "stressed out" when the madndate was first announced. Workers terminated because of refusal to be vaccinated are not eligible for unemployment insurance without a doctor-approved request for medical accommodation. "I've never been more at peace," Petti said. "In the long run, just our final decision was this isn't the right shot for me." Petti doesn't consider herself an anti-vaxxer. She believes the vaccine is "definitely one of the things that saved lives, especially for our older population that was in the nursing home." "I think that the vaccine was very important for certain populations," Petti, who has family members that received the vaccine, said. She just believes the vaccine is counter to her "inner conscience" and "inner morals." Petti said that if the judge rules against religious exemptions and she loses her job her family would face "a few rough months." The family fall back plan is to open a private practice. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
