January 27, 2022.
The federal deadline for health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to get at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine arrived Thursday for many states, and will take effect across the country next month.
A nurse manager at the Life Care Center of Kirkland is getting a vaccine. Karen Ducey poses for a picture.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Montana had the highest ratio of nursing home workers who had not received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the New York Times, Montana and Indiana are among six states that have limited employers from requiring vaccines.
According to CDC data, nearly 85% of nursing home staff in the country had been at least partially vaccinations.
The vaccine requirement for health care workers in the District of Columbia was not challenged in court.
The states with the highest percentage of vaccine received by nursing home staff were Maine, Rhode Island, New York, District of Columbia and Massachusetts.
The deadline came after the Supreme Court on January 13 blocked large employers from implementing a vaccine-or-testing policy, but upheld vaccine mandates for healthcare facilities receiving federal funding, and facilities that do not comply risk losing funding.
10 million. There are 76,000 health care facilities subject to the vaccine mandate. It's not clear how many healthcare workers are unvaccinated.
Medical facilities are confused about which policy to follow because of conflicting federal and state rules. A law that allows employees to opt out of getting vaccine was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees are subject to a fine of $10,000 per employee and $50,000 per violation for businesses with more than 100 workers. The state of Florida could impose fines on healthcare facilities that do not comply with the federal vaccine mandate. The New York Times reported earlier this month that the Agency for Health Care Administration in Florida said more than 90 percent of its workers had been vaccine free.
Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, a trade group representing more than 1,400 nursing homes, issued a statement that his members were concerned about the repercussions of the vaccine mandate among health care workers.
The vaccine mandate for healthcare workers has been met with mixed reactions. Those in favor of a requirement say vaccination is the best way to contain the virus and protect healthcare workers from serious illness even after they contract Covid-19, whereas others, like Parkinson, worry it will worsen staffing shortages at facilities that are already stretched thin. The vaccine requirement applies to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania. In the remaining states, healthcare workers have to receive at least one dose by February 14. February 22 is the deadline for Texas.
The vaccine mandate in rural health facilities is being requested to be waived by the governors of Montana and Sen. Steve Daines.
Unvaccinated health workers in half of the U.S. have a deadline to get a first dose. The New York Times.
The vaccine mandate will kick in for the first wave of health workers.
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