Vegan Vaccination

Jill Renaud is a high school teacher in Astoria, New York refuses to get the flu shot. Not only does the 24-year-old hate the doctor, she is allergic to eggs and egg derivatives, which is part of why she became a vegan a little more than five years ago. “I just don’t take vaccines,” she said. Someday though, Jill might be required to get the vaccine in order to keep her job as a teacher. And that day may be sooner rather than later.

New York State has recently passed a law that requires all health care providers to receive the regular influenza vaccine this year, as well as the H1N1 strain when it becomes available. Many of the workers required to get the immunization are upset, arguing that it violates their rights. Rallying behind the workers are many anti-vaccine groups, including the vegan community.

There are about three million vegans in the United States. That is, three million people who do not ingest anything containing animal byproducts nor do they use anything made from or tested on animals. This poses a major problem for those vegans required to receive the flu vaccine this season. All vaccines are tested on animals before human trials and many contain ingredients derived from animals. According to the Center for Disease Control, all but one of the different influenza vaccines has an egg derivative in it. For Cynthia Mosher, editor and publisher of Veg Family magazine, getting herself and her family vaccinated is not even an option.

“Vaccines are tested on animals,” she said. “They also contain human and animal tissue.”

Ms. Mosher is a vegan who started the online magazine Veg Family in order to help parents and families living a vegan lifestyle. In her opinion, this lifestyle includes not getting any vaccinations.

“Some vegans do go against their beliefs if the benefit outweighs the harm, but personally, I do not feel immunizations should be required nor do I feel they are worth it,” she said. In response to states across the country requiring flu shots, she said: “Health care choices should be a personal and parental decision, not government enforced.” Jill Renaud however, disagrees.

“I mean, you should never force anyone to do anything, but I feel like if you’re in a high risk job as it is, you should get vaccinated.”

In her sophomore year of college, Ms. Renaud joined the First Aid Squad. As a result, she ended up being vaccinated for hepatitis B and meningitis despite her aversion to doctors and her veganism. “It wasn’t absolutely mandated, I could have waived out of it, but it made sense to do so,” she said. She believes that it makes sense for the health care workers to get flu shots, no matter what their religion or lifestyle. “They’re in contact with so many sick patients that they’re in a high risk of getting infected.” The only exception she sees with it is when it will undoubtedly do more harm to the person than good.

There are ways out of receiving mandatory vaccinations. People may fill out forms indicating a category that prevents them from fulfilling the requirement. First, there is the medical exemption Ms. Renaud described. If a person has an allergy to an ingredient in the required vaccine, he or she does not have to get it. Those that do have a non-life threatening allergy to an ingredient in the flu shot may opt to receive it in two separate doses. This is what Ms. Renaud said she would do if a situation arises where she will need to get it. “My co-worker is allergic to egg too,” she said. “He just gets half of a flu shot at a time and it’s fine. I could probably do that.”

There is also the religious exemption, though there is no law in New York that says this may be an option. Finally, there is the philosophical exemption. One who fills out this waiver rejects vaccination because of his or her personal beliefs and values. Vegans would be able to claim philosophical exemption. However, the exemption is currently only available in 17 states, and New York is not one of them.

Ms. Renaud thinks that if states will allow religion to be a legitimate reason to be exempt, then so should being vegan. Although she believes the only good reason not to be given mandatory vaccines would be a medical excuse, she knows that this is unrealistic. Given the current rules, she said: “I would consider veganism a legitimate reason because you can waive because of religion, and a lot of people adhere to their religions much less strictly than some vegans adhere to their veganism.” Ms. Mosher says that beyond claiming either a religious or a medical excuse, she would also hire some lawyers.

“If my job required me to be vaccinated I would probably seek legal recourse,” she said. “The same for my child and a school required vaccine.”

When asked what she would do if New York started requiring public school teachers to get the H1N1 vaccine, Ms. Renaud replied: “I would probably just get it. I’m a lover, not a fighter.” Spoken in the true spirit of veganism, Jill.

My Vegan Week

I’m really not that fond of red meat. In fact, becoming a vegetarian has crossed my mind a few times in the past. However, the draw of a big juicy hamburger or a thick piece of grilled chicken has always kept me from going full “veggie.” Recently though, I have revisited the idea because of my friend Jill Renaud, who is a vegan and much healthier than I am. Whenever we go out to eat somewhere, I watch her eat platefuls of delicious colors: orange carrots, dark green spinach, black olives, beige chickpeas, red tomatoes. And then one day I thought, hey! Why don’t I try it out and see what being a vegan is like? So from there, I decided to embark on a five-day journey of no meat, no eggs, no fish, no dairy… actually no animal by-products at all in my food. It was going to be tough to drop some of my favorite foods cold turkey, er, cold lettuce? But I was determined to see what the life of a vegan is like and if it really is as easy as Jill says it is.


DAY ONE
I woke up absolutely starving. I went from my cabinets to the refrigerator and back again searching for something to give my growling stomach. However, I had not thought about buying vegan-friendly food the night before and thus had next to nothing to eat in my apartment. I was tempted by a big glass of milk and some cheddar cheese, but I settled instead on the vegan friendly (though not very healthy) combination of Fritos and orange soda. Obviously, I was off to a very bad start.

The rest of the day went on much better. I discovered that Ronzoni spaghetti and Newman’s roasted garlic tomato sauce are both things that I could eat. (What would we all do without the Internet?!) Later on, I ordered delivery from a place Jill had told me about called Atlas Café. I had the “Veggie Burger Sunshine” and a dairy-free strawberry and banana smoothie. The fake “meat” in the burger had a strange, cardboard aftertaste but I was so hungry by the time it came that I didn’t care. I just crossed my fingers that tomorrow would be easier.

DAY TWO
I had a good start to my morning. I stopped in a Starbucks on my way to class and had a plain multigrain bagel with some juice. From there, it was all down hill.

By noon, I was hungry again and my teacher’s assistant brought in chocolate Pocky for the whole class. I eagerly gobbled up the tiny stick and a few minutes later remembered about my challenge. I felt super guilty about it, but it’s hard to resist something offered to you that you normally wouldn’t think twice about eating.

After class, I went over to Weinstein dining hall and had myself a nice salad and a “Garden burger.” Just to be safe, I decided to check “hamburger bun” online and to my surprise and horror, the bun I was eating was NOT vegan! It contains dairy products in it. Oh brother, this was harder than I thought it would be.

DAY THREE
Breakfast at Third North dining hall put me on track. I had some fruit and half of a bagel with peanut butter. Peanut butter, I quickly learned, was a vegan’s best friend. Not only is it a good source of protein and healthy fats but also it’s delicious on almost anything.

For dinner, I went out with Jill so it was easy to stick to my diet. We ate the same things together (vegan penne dish, banana with peanut butter, and some hummus) and bonded over the amazing amount of fiber there is in a vegan’s diet.

Though I was tempted all day by egg bagels, macaroni and cheese, pasta with alfredo sauce, and other favorite foods, I managed to resist it all with the mantra “write a good story about this” in my head.

DAY FOUR
I was so excited when I found out that I could eat Cap’N Crunch cereal! After a few handfuls of that, I went off to my internship at 30 Rockefeller Center. In the weekly run-down meeting for the weekend Today Show, one of the segments for Saturday was going to be about fast food. I was practically drooling by the time the meeting was over. Of all the weeks to do a segment about fast food, it had to be during the one week I couldn’t eat any of it!

Once I got home, I made a huge bowl of pasta with marinara and some corn to make me feel better. Just for the record, pasta is the best comfort food ever, vegan or not.

DAY FIVE
Last day! At work, I made myself a toasted plain bagel with strawberry jam. The fast food segment aired and I was surprisingly unaffected. Maybe I could be a vegan after all? When I got home though, I knowingly cheated. The cheddar cheese block in my fridge was practically yelling at me to eat it! I justified this slip by telling myself that I had to “ease” my body back into eating dairy regularly again. I still stand by this excuse!

After dinner that night, I had my first taste of vanilla soy “ice cream.” It was smothered in Hershey’s syrup so I’m not sure if the actual “ice cream” was actually any good but I definitely enjoyed it anyway. When I went to bed that night, all I could think about was everything I was going to eat the next day, to make up for all the healthy foods I had consumed over the past week. I guess I failed my vegan test.


The advantages to my week as a vegan were definitely outweighed by disadvantages for me. On the plus side, I found myself eating smaller meals more often because of the low calorie foods I ate. So even though I would get full easily with big plates of salads and fruit, I would get hungry again quickly because I didn’t consume many calories to keep me going. (Note: A bowl of baby carrots is not a full meal!)

On the down side it was hard for me to resist foods that I love. Mostly, it was the dairy products that were the hardest for me to give up. My love for cheese, cream, and ice cream may not be that healthy, but it’s part of my life and I could never give it up for good. Also, I hate soy and most soy products, which means that the vegan lifestyle and I would probably never work out anyway. Some things are just not meant to be.