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Facing a shortage of vaccines, New York State yesterday dropped its mandate for health care workers to get immunized against swine flu.

Without enough H1N1 vaccine to go around, the Empire State opted to prioritize vulnerable people, such as pregnant women and children, ahead of nurses and doctors. “We had told hospitals that if they had to choose between vaccinating patients or employees to vaccinate patients first,” Richard Daines, New York’s health commissioner, said in a statement.

The statement, jointly issued with Governor David Paterson, did not mention that the requirement to vaccinate health care workers had been put on hold anyway after a judge last week issued a temporary restraining order against the measure.

The lack of vaccine, it seems, has defused the conflict.