- A growing number of medical facilities are requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to on-site work.
- Some colleges and universities are also requiring students and staff to be vaccinated before coming back to campus.
- There are legal questions surrounding these mandatory vaccinations, particularly whether an institution can require a vaccine that hasn’t received full government approval.
Employees of the Houston Methodist Hospital system in Texas are up against a deadline.
They have to get a COVID-19 vaccine by June 7 or they could be fired.
A spokesperson for Houston Methodist told Healthline that their hospital is the first major health system in the country to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine.
The order affects 26,000 employees at all of Houston Methodist’s hospitals and outpatient clinics.
In emails and statements sent to employees and obtained by Healthline, Dr. Marc L. Boom, Houston Methodist’s president and CEO, wrote: “As healthcare workers we must do everything possible to keep our patients safe.”
The spokesperson said employees can apply for a medical or religious exemption. So far, 89 percent of the workers have complied. When managers were asked to meet an April 15 deadline, two resigned.
Source: healthline