As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available, healthcare companies are debating to what extent they should pressure their employees to be immunized, according to an April 5 article published byThe Washington Post.
Some healthcare companies have already mandated that employees at least have an appointment for a vaccine to protect their patients.
At Silverado's 22 assisted living communities, not one location had more than 80 percent of the staff vaccinated after the first round of a companywide vaccination clinic. Some sites were barely at half of the staff.
In response, Silverado mandated that staff must have at least an appointment for a shot as a condition of their job.
With about 1,300 employees at memory-care facilities, Silverado has said 137 employees asked for an exemption of the mandate, 10 employees have resigned, and more than two dozen are on leave while they decide what to do. The other 1,000 have gotten their COVID-19 shots.
According to a Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation poll, nearly 6 in 10 healthcare employees said they would support a COVID-19 vaccination mandate. More than 3 in 10 said they did not intend to get vaccinated or were undecided.
Within that group, more than 8 in 10 said they would oppose a vaccine mandate, and nearly two-thirds said they would leave their job if it was required.
The poll found that 1 in 6 healthcare workers said they would leave their job rather than get the COVID-19 vaccine.
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