9 hospitals, health systems mandating boosters for employees

Kelly Gooch -

The number of hospitals and health systems requiring COVID-19 booster shots for employees is growing as the pandemic continues in the U.S.

Here are the healthcare organizations that have announced booster mandates:

Note: This story was updated Feb. 9.

1. UW Health is requiring that providers, staff, students and volunteers receive a COVID-19 booster dose as a condition of employment, the Madison, Wis.-based health system said Feb. 9. The compliance deadline is May 2.

2. Houston Methodist will require managers to get a booster dose by Jan. 31, with a March 1 deadline for all other employees, Marc Boom, MD, health system president and CEO, wrote in a letter to employees and shared with Becker's Jan. 11. 

3. Texas Children's Hospital in Houston will continue its required COVID-19 vaccination policy to include a booster dose, Mark A. Wallace, president and CEO, wrote in a letter to employees and shared with Becker's Jan. 11. The deadline for employees is March 1. 

4. Baylor College of Medicine, in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, will require all faculty and staff to receive a booster, Paul Klotman, MD, president and CEO, wrote in a letter to employees and shared with Becker's Jan. 11. Baylor College of Medicine will likely require  employees to be boosted by April 1, a spokesperson told the Houston Chronicle

5. University Hospital in Newark, N.J., announced a COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate Oct. 27 for employees who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, after the Oct. 21 CDC approval of booster doses for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine recipients.

6. Beth Israel Lahey Health in Cambridge, Mass., is mandating boosters for its workforce, president and CEO Kevin Tabb, MD, announced Jan. 4 in a memo sent to employees, which was shared with Becker's. Beginning March 1, a booster will be a condition of employment for Beth Israel Lahey Health employees who received a two-dose vaccine series six or more months ago or a one-dose vaccine series two or more months ago.  

7. Mass General Brigham told The Boston Globe that its staff must receive booster shots by March 1 (if they became fully vaccinated before Aug. 1, 2021). The deadline for employees who became fully vaccinated after Aug. 1 is June 30.

8. Wellforce, a Burlington, Mass.-based health system that includes Tufts Medical Center, Tufts Children's Hospital and MelroseWakefield Healthcare, said it will also require booster shots for staff, although a deadline has not been set, The Boston Globe reported Jan. 4. 

9. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is requiring that employees eligible for a booster on or before Feb. 28 to receive a booster by April 1, according to the Boston Business Journal. Other employees are required to receive a booster within 30 days of becoming eligible.

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