During the pandemic, the number of states requiring COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers has grown, and some deadlines have passed.
Here are updates about the vaccination mandates from four states:
New York
New York required healthcare workers at hospitals and nursing homes to receive their first vaccine dose by Sept. 27. Workers at other places covered by the mandate, including diagnostic and treatment centers, home health agencies, long-term home healthcare programs, school-based clinics and hospice care programs, were required to have at least one dose by Oct. 7.
The mandate excludes religious exemptions. However, on Oct. 12, U.S. Northern District Judge David Hurd of Utica granted a preliminary injunction temporarily allowing healthcare workers to claim religious exemptions from the state's mandate.
Then three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit removed the temporary injunction Oct. 29, ruling against healthcare workers in cases related to the mandate, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reported that the cases will continue in lower courts while the state's policy stays in place.
Maine
Maine's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers took effect Oct. 1, although enforcement didn't begin until Oct. 29. The mandate requires certain healthcare workers to get vaccinated as a condition of employment and does not include religious exemptions.
Maine healthcare workers made an emergency request for a religious exemption from the state's mandate, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied that request on Oct. 29, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Supreme Court decision, the newspaper reported, leaves a lower court order upholding the mandate in place.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island's mandate covers state hospitals, the Rhode Island State Public Health Laboratories and the Veterans Home in Bristol, as well as licensed healthcare providers at all other licensed facilities in Rhode Island.
The original mandate required workers who do not have an approved exemption to receive their final dose by Oct. 1, or face administrative action on their license. But the state health department said Sept. 21 that it would allow healthcare workers who are not vaccinated by the Oct. 1 deadline to work an additional 30 days beyond that date if their absence would negatively affect patient care.
As of Oct. 31, 94 percent of Rhode Island's healthcare workers had been fully inoculated, The Boston Globe reported, citing a random audit for vaccination status conducted by the state health department.
Colorado
The deadline for Colorado's mandate requiring healthcare workers to get vaccinated passed Oct. 31, and state data show the mandate significantly increased the vaccination rate, according to The Gazette.
State data cited by the newspaper show that 93 percent of hospital staff were vaccinated as of Nov. 1, excluding facilities that did not report data. Only 1 percent of the hospital staff was partially vaccinated, 1 percent was medically exempt, 3 percent qualified for a religious exemption and 2 percent were unvaccinated.
The mandate affected about 3,800 licensed, certified healthcare facilities in Colorado, including hospitals.