Months after the federal government formally withdrew the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of CMS-certified healthcare facilities, hospitals and health systems have varied approaches to their own rules.
The federal mandate was enacted in November 2021. Hospitals and health systems subsequently continued to roll out requirements for their workers, with some firing employees for noncompliance.
In May, HHS announced it would drop the federal COVID-19 vaccine rule, and the Biden administration issued an 82-page final rule formalizing the mandate's end.
The new final rule moves to treat COVID-19, from an oversight standpoint, more like the flu. In the new final rule, the federal government notes that hospitals and health systems may still instate their own COVID-19 vaccination requirements for workers, consistent with other federal, state and local laws.
Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare, for example, is no longer requiring staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Health system leaders notified employees of the policy change July 27. Emory Healthcare said it still "strongly encourages all staff and physicians to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, per CDC guidelines."
Renton, Wash.-based Providence also does not have a vaccine mandate in effect, spokesperson Melissa Tizon told Becker's on Sept. 14. Caregivers may decline the shot.
"We ask that all employees receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine or booster," the health system said in a statement. "This is not the same as the vaccine mandates that we were required to implement by state law and CMS during the pandemic."
Providence said workers who do not wish to receive the vaccine must submit a declination form by Nov. 30.
"They no longer need to request approval for a medical or religious exemption as many of our states and CMS required at the height of COVID," the health system said. "This policy has been our practice for many years with the flu vaccine and we are now extending this to the COVID vaccine."
Additionally, Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced in September that it is not requiring employees to receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine. The organization said workers "are strongly encouraged to protect themselves and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by keeping up to date with COVID-19 vaccination."
While a number of hospitals and health systems are encouraging COVID-19 vaccines, some have reinstated requirements for employees this fall, the Boston Business Journal reported Oct. 11. This includes Burlington, Mass.-based Tufts Medicine and Boston Children's Hospital.
Tufts Medicine has asked staff to receive the updated dose by Dec. 31, citing updated regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to the publication. Employees may decline receiving an updated shot.
Boston Children's cited CDC recommendations in its decision, according to the Boston Business Journal. Employees who are fully remote or have a valid medical or religious exemption may be excused from the requirement.