No Pittsburgh-area hospitals requires COVID-19 shots for employees
Workers in western Pennsylvania hospitals are far more likely to be protected against the flu than the virus that causes COVID-19, despite the effectiveness of the coronavirus shot and new calls for a vaccination mandate for hospital employees.
On Tuesday, 27 doctors, nurses and others representing the ‘Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’ and six other public health-related associations recommended that hospitals mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees, contract workers, students and volunteers — with exemptions allowed for medical or religious reasons. However, the statement noted that the authors’ views “do not necessarily reflect the positions of their institutions.”
The call for making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of hospital employment came as the number of new cases in the U.S. has begun to inch upward — 20,473 new cases on Monday in the U.S. compared to 11,791 new cases a month ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of new cases in Pennsylvania during the same period fell to 133 from 412.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said: “UPMC awaits more data on the efficacy of the vaccines in preventing transmission of COVID-19
before requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for employees,” spokeswoman Amy Charley wrote.
https://www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2021/07/14/Pittsburgh-COVID-19-hospitals-vaccine-mandate-upmc-st-clair-health-system-hospital-vaccination-requirements/stories/202107140111
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