Houston Methodist, the first health system in the U.S. to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine, said it was implementing a new employment policy to comply with a new Texas law.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law Nov. 10 banning private employers from requiring employees or contractors receive a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment. Employers that violate the law are subject to a $50,000 fine as well as a lawsuit and injunctive relief from the state, according to Mr. Abbott's office. The law takes effect Feb. 6, 2024.
Ahead of the new law, Houston Methodist is issuing a new policy, effective Dec. 1. It will no longer require the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.
"We mandated the COVID-19 vaccine to protect our patients and their caregivers," the health system said in a statement shared with Becker's. "It was one of the most important and best decisions we ever made. There is no doubt it protected our patients, employees and physicians during the pandemic. As a result, Houston Methodist continues to be among the safest hospital systems in the country.
"The science is clear, and it shows that COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent severe illness and hospitalizations from the virus. Vaccines continue to be our best weapon in our fight against COVID-19. Our employees and physicians are already vaccinated, or have an exemption, so the new state law only impacts a small percentage of new employees. These employees will wear proper PPE [personal protective equipment] as protection against the virus as determined by our medical professionals."
Houston Methodist initially rolled out its mandatory vaccination policy March 31, 2021, and was the first health system in the U.S. to do so. Nearly all the system's employees got vaccinated, but 153 of them either resigned during a two-week suspension period or were terminated June 22, 2021, for not complying with the system's mandate. It did not require employees to receive new COVID-19 vaccines targeting omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.