Government & Politics

Abinanti Cites Shimsky for Attacks on His Vaccine Voting Record

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June 23, 2022

By Rick Pezzullo–

Vaccinations have been a hot button issue among some constituents in the contentious Democratic primary slugfest between incumbent Assemblyman Tom Abinanti and Westchester County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky.

In particular, letter writers and social media enthusiasts have taken aim at Abinanti for his legislative record on vaccines during his 12 years in Albany, with some labeling certain positions he has taken “dangerous” and “irresponsible.” In his Manor Woods blog, Greenburgh Democrat Dan Weinfeld cites more than a dozen bills sponsored, co-sponsored or supported by Abinanti that either limit the use of vaccines or provide exemptions from vaccine mandates.

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Abinanti, who is squaring off with Shimsky on June 28 in a fight to hold on to his 92^nd Assembly District seat, is firing back at his critics, claiming Shimsky has orchestrated the smear campaign as a “desperate” attempt to distract voters from a lackluster 12 years on the Board of Legislators in which he said she only passed one bill, as compared to the 157 he championed on the state level.

“It’s a totally fake issue concocted by my opponent because she has nothing to talk about,” Abinanti remarked Saturday. “It’s just a dirty campaign with personal attacks. I haven’t attacked her personally. It is despicable that they would try to make my personal medical condition a campaign issue.”

Abinanti, 75, who noted he has not received the COVID-19 vaccination on the advice of his doctor since he has a contraindicating medical condition, stressed he has strongly urged residents eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine and distributed 5,000 COVID tests personally.

He has also advocated for people with disabilities to have access to the vaccine, resulting in more than 90 percent of residents in group homes to get the shot. Abinanti, who said he contracted and recovered from COVID, disclosed he had received two separate $500 campaign contributions from Pfizer, a major producer of COVID vaccines. He also notes that he has been endorsed by the New York State Nurses Association.

“I have voted for $29 billion for vaccines and supplies,” Abinanti said. “I have delivered for the people of Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant on the issues that people care about.”

In a recent letter published in a local weekly newspaper, a group of Hastings-based physicians, Dr. Jennifer Schelker, Dr. Lisa Saiman, Dr. Peter Rothstein and Dr. David Goldfarb, criticized Abinanti, stating during an outbreak of measles among unvaccinated people in California in 2015 and in New York in 2019, he “chose to be a voice that promoted fear and confusion.”

“Abinanti introduced a bill to permit parents to opt out of their child’s vaccines for any personal philosophical reasons, no matter if irrational and not supported by science, without medical advice, and without regard to harm to the child, their family, or the health of the larger community,” the doctors wrote.

Addressing one controversial bill that he pushed in the 2013-14 legislative session that sought to provide a “philosophical exemption to immunizations” to allow parents to exempt their children from mandatory vaccinations for any reason, Abinanti said it was “state-of-the-art, progressive legislation” that already existed in California. He eventually voted no on the legislation with 30 other Democrats, including the majority leader and the chairman of the Health Committee.

“There’s no question,” Abinanti conceded, that his positions on vaccines have “evolved” over the years, adding, “In the past, I was passive.”

“I’m running on my record,” he said. “I have an opponent who has no record and has delivered nothing. She’s running on my record seven years ago.”

Shimsky, 62, said that when she first joined the race, vaccination was one of the issues that people talked to her about. She maintained Abinanti should be judged on his entire record on vaccinations, despite his recent change of heart on some issues.

“This is really, really very serious stuff,” Shimsky remarked Saturday. “It’s one of the most important health issues of our time. It would be despicable if he was among people not wearing a mask in public, which he has.”

She charged Abinanti has tried to justify his past record during the campaign only because he’s on the ballot.

“There are people who say things and do things when people are watching,” she added. “It’s (fair) to judge him when people weren’t paying attention.”

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