This archive report was first published on 23 August 2021.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, hospital systems across the United States are implementing vaccination mandates for their employees. Northwell Health, a hospital system in New York, is one such system that has put in place a mandate to protect patients. According to a spokesman, the company aims to get 100 percent of its staff vaccinated and has used various tactics to nudge hesitant workers, including offering them spa days.
However, not all employees are on board with the mandate. Some protesters, who are dismissive of scientific data and wary of mandates that they say infringe on their civil rights, are willing to lose their jobs rather than get vaccinated. Others are considering moving out of state, such as to Florida, where hospital requirements are looser and the number of deaths and hospitalizations has steadily risen since June.
According to the state, 75 percent of the state's roughly 450,000 hospital workers, 74 percent of the state's 30,000 adult care facility workers, and 68 percent of the state's 145,500 nursing home workers have been fully vaccinated to date.
Northwell Health's vaccination mandate has sparked a backlash, with some hospital systems taking a harsher approach to persuade vaccine refusers. The largest health care union in the country held a rally last month after the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system mandated that workers receive at least one shot of the vaccine by September 1.
