UFT President Mulgrew States COVID Vaccination is a Teacher CHOICE

by Michael Kane

2-5-21

I was very happy to hear UFT President Michael Mulgrew reiterate that getting the COVID vaccine is a choice for every teacher to make individually. On February 4th, during a telephonic town hall meeting that New York Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at, over 20,000 UFT members heard Mulgrew strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated; yet he clearly stated that it is a personal choice.

This is very good, and it is a clear sign TEACHERS FOR CHOICE efforts are impacting the narrative. To be clear, TEACHERS FOR CHOICE supports everyone who decides to get the COVID vaccine, but not as a prerequisite to maintain employment or participate in society.

The first time Mulgrew stated vaccination was an “individual decision” for teachers to make was last month when he was questioned by THE CHIEF. Reporter Crystal Lewis confronted Mulgrew with an open-letter I had addressed to the UFT President regarding whether he supported mandatory COVID vaccination of teachers. The “individual decision” remark came through a UFT spokesperson. The February 4th town hall meeting was the first time we heard such words stated from Mulgrew’s own mouth.

Mulgrew has arrived late in the game in supporting choice, as almost every union leader throughout NYC has held this position for months now; but better late than never. We thank Mulgrew for making this statement at this time, however no one should believe this means that the COVID vaccine will never be forced upon us. Below I will break down some of the particular details of where things currently stand regarding vaccine mandates, and what’s ahead of us.

Emergency Use vs. FULL FDA Approval

Right now the COVID vaccine only has Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. It is a violation of federal law to mandate a medical product released under EUA, and everyone knows this. However, once one of the COVID vaccines gets full FDA approval we will be in a completely different ballgame where Mulgrew and the UFT could ditch their position supporting choice.

One thing Mulgrew did during his town hall call was attempt to guilt the 20,000 teachers listening to him into getting the vaccine. He stated the only way to get “herd immunity” was through vaccination, and if 50% of people don’t want the vaccine our 1-year-crisis could become a 2-to-3-year-crisis.

Now I know there are hundreds, likely thousands of doctors and scientists who would take issue with Mulgrew’s statements; especially the statement that “herd immunity” is only achievable through vaccination. However neither Mulgrew or myself are doctors, nor are we scientists, so it is really irrelevant what either of us say.

My prediction (for what it’s worth) is no matter what happens, the COVID vaccine will be recommended annually or bi-annually; meaning 1 to 4 vaccines per person each year regardless of what happens with COVID cases or deaths. It is too much money for Big Pharma, too big of a market, for any reasonably intelligent person to believe everyone gets 1 or 2 shots now and then Fauci will say, “Well that’s it! We did it! No more COVID vaccines needed EVER AGAIN!“

Believe that one, I got a beautiful bridge to sell you.

What about Randi?

While we appreciate that our pressure on Mulgrew has gotten him to shift his position, that has not happened for Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Weingarten stated in September of 2020 that she and the AFT support force vaccinating teachers to keep our jobs, and she has never once backed-off of that statement. The AFT is the parent union of the UFT, and many other NY-based teacher unions. So sometimes I like to call Weingarten Mulgrew’s “boss.”

I will be addressing Randi Weingarten ‘directly’ (so to speak) when I give my presentation this Wednesday night at a free webinar titled THE COVID VACCINE ON TRIAL. There are already multiple thousands of people pre-registered to view that webinar, and I anticipate a sizeable audience will be hearing my concerns and grievances that evening.

In the 7 Demands TEACHERS FOR CHOICE has for all New York Teacher Unions one of them is that Weingarten must rescind her statement in support of forced vaccination of teachers. If she does not do so, on March 1, 2021, New York teachers will stop paying union dues and divert that money into an Emergency Health Defense Fund. That money will be ear-marked for coming litigation to fight against medical mandates for New York Teachers to keep our jobs. I am personally in discussions with multiple attorneys who are writing and negotiating the agreements for the fund right now.

This is not a bluff.