The Alliance Against Healthcare Mandates held a rally in Broadway Park, Bangor, Maine on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 to bring awareness to the ongoing dispute between the organization and the Mills administration.
On August 12, 2021, the Mills Administration announced an emergency rule — a mandate — requiring certain healthcare workers in Maine to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 29, 2021. The organization filed a lawsuit last Thursday in an attempt to get the mandate overturned.
Health Choice Maine’s Tiffany Kreck, an organizer of the rally, explained to WVII Fox Bangor’s News Director, Susan Farley, that the group’s message is not anti-vaccination, but having the freedom to make an informed choice of getting the vaccine.
“This is not a small issue. This is not an issue that is gonna affect 25 people in the state. This is an issue that is gonna affect hundreds and hundreds of healthcare workers that small communities depend on,” Kreck said. “And some of these facilities, as we’re already seeing in the nursing homes, are already struggling with such staff shortages that they’re having to close,” she said.
