Health Care Employers Urged to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine

More than 50 health care groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, issued a joint statement Monday calling for all health-care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” the groups wrote in the joint statement. “This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being.”

“Because of highly contagious variants, including the Delta variant, and significant numbers of unvaccinated people, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are once again rising throughout the United States. Vaccination is the primary way to put the pandemic behind us and avoid the return of stringent public health measures,” the statement continued.

The joint statement supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates for “all workers in heath and long-term care,” and does not specify types of workers in those settings such as environmental services (EVS) or food service staff.

To read the full statement, click here.