I am a young working professional in Los Angeles and live in a world where my choice has been forcefully taken away from me. I felt the heavy hand of employer coercion on my personal health matters when I was obliged to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and subsequent booster, all under the looming threat of unemployment from 2021 through 2023. Myself and my fellow coworkers were forced to obtain the vaccine(s) or be let go and I had the unpleasant experience of watching as one of my colleagues was indeed let go when this individual chose to not take the vaccine at the time it was being mandated upon us. My employer didn't stop there. The mandate extended to annual flu vaccines and discussions are in progress to continue to mandate flu vaccines and potentially include Covid boosters despite little research or inconclusive research to support these vaccines and their efficacy in transmission prevention. 

After receiving the mandated booster for the COVID-19 vaccination, I experienced an alarming side effect - an absence of my menstruation cycle for over three months. Consulting medical professionals concluded that there were no pre-existing conditions to account for this abrupt change, leaving me in anguish, both physically and mentally. 

I believe in the power of vaccines, there is evidence of the undeniable net-positive effect that vaccines have had in our world and across our communities, but I also stand firm on my right to analyze, discuss and question, especially when my bodily autonomy is concerned. Vaccines that do not have considerable evidence of preventing transmission should not be mandated. It's essential that choices remain ours to make, without fear of reprisals such as loss of employment when evidence of their efficacy is weak or lacking. 

Let us band together to protect our rights, prevent vaccine mandates where clear transmission prevention evidence is lacking, and foster employer-employee relationships based on respect and freedom of choice. I invite you to join this movement. Please sign this petition today, for the moment you believe you can make a difference, you indeed do make one.