Health Care Worker Mandates See Mixed Results; Many Employees Fired
Data from New York show that hospitals saw a marked increase in the number of vaccinated workers as the deadline approached. But in Rhode Island, 92 facilities didn't meet the deadline. Meanwhile, three more airlines have announced that their employees will be required to get the jab.
USA Today:
'No Cheap, Easy Or Quick Fix': Hospitals Oust Unvaccinated Workers In Preview Of 50-State Mandate
New York this week gave the nation an early glimpse of what the Biden administration's 50-state vaccine mandate for health care workers might look like. The Empire State's hospitals dismissed or suspended dozens of workers for failing to meet a Monday deadline requiring workers get at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Anticipating service disruptions from frontline health workers quitting or getting fired, health systems from New York City to upstate delayed non-emergency operations, cut clinic hours and paid travel nurses up to $200 an hour to fill vacant shifts. (Alltucker, 10/2)
AP:
Autopsies Relocated As Medical Examiner Goes Unvaccinated
An upstate New York county is being forced to send human bodies to a hospital 50 miles away for autopsies because its prominent medical examiner has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to county officials. Rensselaer County moved autopsies on Friday to Glens Falls Hospital from Albany Medical Center Hospital, which requires everyone who works there to be vaccinated, Richard Crist, the county’s director of operations, told the Times Union. (10/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Covid-19 Vaccinations In New York Accelerated Ahead Of Healthcare Worker Mandates
Since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a vaccine mandate for New York healthcare workers more than a month ago, hospital employees in the state have been getting vaccinated at more than twice the rate as all New York adults, according to data provided by the state health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Tuesday, the day after the mandate took effect, 87% of hospital workers were reported as fully vaccinated, up from 76% on Aug. 17, the day after the mandate was announced. This 11-percentage-point increase compares with a 5-point rise for all adults in the state, whose overall vaccination rate remains at around 75%. (Rust, Dapena and Rivas, 10/2)
In mandate news from Rhode Island, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida and elsewhere —
The Boston Globe:
92 Health Care Facilities In R.I. Did Not Meet COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Deadline
Despite being given more than five weeks’ advance notice, 92 health care facilities were not able to meet the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline for health care workers on Friday and have requested a 30-day extension. Governor Dan McKee announced in mid-August that all health care workers in the state would have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1 or risk losing their jobs, and possibly their professional licenses. But on Saturday morning, the state health department published a lengthy list of facilities that were not fully compliant by the deadline. (Gagosz, 10/2)
The Washington Post:
Several Hundred Virginia Health-Care Workers Have Been Suspended Or Fired Over Coronavirus Vaccine Mandates
Several hundred hospital workers in Virginia have been suspended or lost their jobs because they refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, as required by most major health-care systems. The earliest vaccine mandates went into effect Sept. 1, with two other waves set for Oct. 18 and Nov. 1, according to a survey of hospital policies. (Portnoy, 10/3)
Axios:
Louisiana Health System To Charge Employees With Unvaccinated Partners
The largest health care system in Louisiana will charge its employees $200 a month if a spouse or domestic partner covered under its health plan is not vaccinated against the coronavirus, NOLA reports. The new rule, which will take effect in 2022, comes as the vast majority of coronavirus patients who end up hospitalized are unvaccinated. Most will likely have to pay for their own medical bills, according to a KFF analysis, as insurers won't waive out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 hospitalizations. (Frazier, 10/1)
KHN:
Mandatory Vaccines For Health Care Workers Might Upend Nurses’ Training
Kaitlyn Hevner expects to complete a 15-month accelerated nursing program at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville in December. For her clinical training this fall, she’s working 12-hour shifts on weekends with medical-surgical patients at a hospital. But Hevner and nursing students like her who refuse to get vaccinated against covid-19 are in an increasingly precarious position. Their stance may put their required clinical training and, eventually, their nursing careers at risk. (Andrews, 10/4)
In airline updates —
The Wall Street Journal:
American Airlines, Alaska, JetBlue Order Workers To Get Covid-19 Vaccinations
More airlines are telling employees they’ll have to get Covid-19 vaccinations as carriers move to comply with new rules for companies that do business with the federal government. American Airlines Group Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. announced new vaccine requirements Friday, citing requirements they will have to meet due to their government contracts. (Sider, 10/2)
In other news about covid mandates —
AP:
More CT State Employees Comply With Vaccine Or Test Mandate
About 3,000 Connecticut state employees remained noncompliant Sunday with the governor’s order requiring a vaccine or weekly testing, according to the state. That’s down from the roughly 8,000 employees who were not complying as of Friday. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order requires employees to get vaccinated, or begin weekly testing, by the end of the day Monday. (10/3)
The Mercury News:
Bay Area, California Public Employees Find Religion To Avoid COVID Vaccine
With the clock ticking, thousands of public employees — many of them police and firefighters — are claiming and receiving religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine requirements that state and local governments have adopted in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. The vaccine mandates have been pushed by public officials looking to crack down on shot-shunners they blame for facilitating the virus’s deadly spread. But the number of granted exemptions suggests it can be challenging to enforce the mandate on unwilling workers whose religious beliefs are protected under federal and state law, especially if those workers are backed by a strong labor union. San Jose has approved about four out of five religious exemption requests from the vaccine requirement, a total of more than 300. Although no major religious leaders oppose vaccination of their faithful, workers still can legitimately claim the shots violate their personal religious beliefs. (Woolfolk, 10/3)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Hundreds Protest Vaccine, Nevada Mandate On Strip
A few hundred people gathered on the Strip on Sunday night to protest Gov. Steve Sisolak’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The group met outside of the Aria at 7 p.m. and marched north along Las Vegas Boulevard toward Bally’s, where they turned around. They stopped momentarily in front of the Fountains of Bellagio as the water crashed along to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.“ Many protesters held signs, some of which appeared to oppose the vaccine, while others focused their attention more specifically on the governor’s mandate. Brock Abbe, who moved to Las Vegas from New York in January, said he joined the group to protest the mandate, not the vaccine itself. (Ford, 10/3)
Axios:
Murkowski Slams Comparisons Of Mask Mandates To Nazism In Plea To Alaskans
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) voiced alarm and frustration about the surge of COVID cases in her state on Friday, decrying comparisons of mask mandates to Nazism. Alaska's number of weekly cases has steadily increased in recent months, jumping 10% from just last week, according to state health data. Meanwhile, anti-vaxxers continue to protest mask and vaccine mandates in increasingly hostile situations. (Chen, 10/2)
