As COVID-19 surges in Mississippi, the state's only academic medical center has amended its vaccination policy to make COVID-19 inoculation a condition of employment.
Mississippi has become a hot spot for COVID-19, with a highly transmissible delta variant and a higher number of pediatric coronavirus cases than previous surges in the state, according to a memo from Alan Jones, MD, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs and COVID-19 clinical response leader at Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Jones said the vaccine is the best way to combat the pandemic.
"Mississippians getting vaccinated is the most effective weapon in the arsenal as we battle this pandemic. It would be great if every eligible person in our state be vaccinated against COVID-19, but realistically, I know that isn't going to happen," he wrote in the Aug. 20 memo. "But, as Dr. Thomas Dobbs, [MD], state health officer with the Mississippi State Department of Health, has said many times, we need to eclipse a 70 percent vaccination rate to reach herd immunity. We are nowhere close to that. The number of Mississippians getting vaccinated daily has risen over the past few weeks, which is a glimmer of hope, but still well below what it needs to be to get us to that 70 percent mark."
Under the medical center's new policy, managers and supervisors must show proof of full vaccination by Sept. 15, while all other employees must do so on or before Oct. 1. Additionally, students and other individuals accessing the medical center's premises as patients or otherwise must show proof of full vaccination on or before Nov. 1.
University of Mississippi Medical Center was allowing employees to wear N95 masks rather than get vaccinated. However, that is no longer an option, said Dr. Jones. Those who do not comply with the new policy could face corrective action up to and including termination or dismissal.
Read the full memo from Dr. Jones here.