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A mandate came into force in the state of New York last week which demands all hospital and care home workers be vaccinated against Covid. This prompted thousands of people to get their first vaccine dose after previously opting not to, but the mandate has also led to lawsuits across the state from workers seeking exemptions.

Dr Tsion Firew is an emergency medicine doctor and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Colombia University Medical Centre in New York. James Young is a registered nurse at a hospital for military veterans in New York run by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. They discuss their thoughts on the mandate, why it's important for their profession and the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy in their own teams. He is "disappointed but not surprised" to find there are still colleagues around him who are unwilling to be vaccinated.

Photo: A person being vaccinated Credit: Getty Images