Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner will require all U.S. employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year, The Kansas City Star reported Oct. 1.
Seven details:
1. The vaccine mandate comes on the first day David Feinberg, MD, former head of Google Health, officially took the helm of the EHR company as CEO.
2. Cerner is requiring all U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, but the company may make exceptions for medical or sincerely held religious beliefs, according to the report. Workers who are approved for these exemptions will be required to take weekly COVID-19 tests.
3. Cerner also is pushing back its return-to-office plan to Jan. 10 of next year; the company previously targeted an October rollout of its new hybrid work model but delayed the initiative because of moderate-to-high transmission levels of the delta variant.
4. Earlier this year, Cerner officials decided not to mandate vaccines among staff except for those who work in client healthcare facilities with vaccine requirements.
5. In an Oct. 1 message to employees, Cerner's COVID-19 task force wrote that "Although no vaccine prevents all infections, the COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe and highly effective. Vaccination remains the most effective way of reducing the incidence and severity of the virus."
6. Cerner announced its new hybrid work model plans in June; under the approach, employees can choose between working at its headquarters or remotely.
7. Cerner is home to about 26,000 global employees, with 13,000 based in the Kansas City area.