“More than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine have been fired or resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement.
“A spokesperson for Houston Methodist hospital system said 153 employees either resigned in the two-week suspension period or were terminated on June 22.”
(Associated Press. “More than 150 fired, resign over Covid vaccine requirement at Houston hospital.” NBC News. June 23, 2021.)
This is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. However, it won’t be the end of the debate.
Earlier this month, a federal judge threw out the lawsuit filed by 117 employees over the requirement. The hospital system’s decision in April to require the vaccine for workers made it the first major U.S. health care system to do so.
A statement by Houston Methodist noted that there's precedent for a mandatory vaccination policy at the hospital …
"It is unfortunate that the few remaining employees who refuse to get vaccinated and put our patients first are responding in this way. It is legal for health care institutions to mandate vaccines, as we have done with the flu vaccine since 2009. The COVID-19 vaccines have proven through rigorous trials to be very safe and very effective and are not experimental."
(Michelle Mark. “Over 100 employees sued a Houston hospital for requiring COVID-19 vaccines, saying they were forced to be 'human guinea pigs.'” Business Insider. May 29, 2021.)
The Houston Methodist employees who filed the lawsuit likened their situation to medical experiments performed on unwilling victims in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes called that comparison “reprehensible” and said claims made in the lawsuit that the vaccines are experimental and dangerous are false.
Hughes, who dismissed the lawsuit June 12, said that if the employees didn’t like the requirement, they could go work elsewhere.
Those who filed the lawsuit have already appealed the judge’s dismissal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Other hospital systems around the country, including in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and most recently New York, have followed Houston Methodist and have also gotten pushback.
Legal experts say such vaccine requirements, particularly in a public health crisis, will probably continue be upheld in court as long as employers provide reasonable exemptions, including for medical conditions or religious objections.
Harris Methodist has said some employees got medical or religious exemptions, and some were deferred for pregnancy or other reasons.
But Houston Methodist’s president and CEO, Marc Boom, has said nearly 25,000 of the system’s more than 26,000 workers have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Johns Hopkins is also among other health networks (including New York-Presbyterian, University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), and Indiana University Health) requiring workers to be fully vaccinated by September, with 75% already meeting the mandate, according to Dr. Paul Rothman, dean of the medical faculty for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
"To avoid a rise in viral transmission as restrictions are lifted, we need as many people vaccinated as possible," he stated.
(Kate Gibson. “Hospitals across U.S. are requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.” CBS News. June 11, 2021.)
What Is the Percentage of Vaccinated Health Care Workers In the U.S.?
Many people may find these statistics alarming.
As of early March, just over half (52%) of frontline health care workers say they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, leaving 48% who have not, a new KFF/The Washington Post national survey of health care workers finds.
Most who work in hospitals (66%) and outpatient clinics (64%) say they have received a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to half who work in doctors’ offices (52%) or in nursing homes or assisted care facilities (50%), and a quarter (26%) of home health care workers. Similarly, seven in ten (68%) of those responsible for patient diagnosis and treatment like a doctor or a nurse report receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to about four in ten of those who perform administrative duties (44%) or who assist with patient care such as bathing, eating, cleaning, exercising, and housekeeping (37%).
(Craig Palosky. “KFF/Post Survey of Frontline Health Care Workers Finds Nearly Half Remain Unvaccinated.” Kaiser Family Foundation. March 19, 2021.
The unvaccinated group of frontline health care workers includes some who either have their vaccination scheduled (3%) or plan to get vaccinated but haven’t scheduled it yet (15%). It also includes 3 in 10 who have either not decided whether they will get vaccinated (12%) or say they do not plan on receiving a COVID-19 vaccine (18%).
"Scientific evidence tells us that from a safety and efficacy standpoint, COVID-19 vaccines represent a dramatic accomplishment and a clear pathway out of this pandemic.”
– Dr. Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of University of Maryland Medical System
What's The Beef Against Vaccination?
A large majority of unvaccinated health care workers who either have not decided if they will get vaccinated, or say they do not plan to get vaccinated, say that worries about potential side effects (82%) and the newness of the vaccine (81%) are major factors in their decision making. These are the top concerns across the different demographic groups of unvaccinated health care workers including Black health care workers, Hispanic health care workers, and White health care workers.
Among frontline health workers, half of Black workers, 45% of workers without a college degree, and four in ten Republican and Republican-leaning workers say they are not confident the COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. have been properly tested for safety and effectiveness. About 1 in 5 of each of these groups also say they will definitely not receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Note: The main reasons for the reluctance vary, but the top one, cited by 17% of respondents, is that the vaccine is too new, there's not enough information about it or its long-term effects are unknown.
The three next most common reasons, each cited by 8% of respondents, are that they don't believe the vaccine is effective, they don't need it and they don't know what's in it.
Other reasons include being concerned about side effects, not liking vaccines in general and not being concerned about contracting COVID-19.
(“Does The Public Want To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? When?” Kaiser Family Foundation. KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor Dashboard | KFF .)
Reflecting the overall vaccination rates among frontline health care workers, the share of workers who were offered a COVID-19 vaccine from their employer was much lower among those working in patients’ homes (34%).
The CDC says COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines cannot give you COVID-19. You may have side effects after vaccination. These are normal, and should go away in a few days.
Healthcare personnel continue to be on the front line of the nation’s fight against COVID-19. By providing critical care to those who are or might be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, some healthcare personnel are at increased risk of infection from COVID-19. All healthcare personnel are recommended to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Getting vaccinated is part of the health care ethic. You take care of physically very vulnerable people and you need to protect them. I’m always surprised that there’s a contingent in health care that don’t want to get vaccinated.”
– Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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