Veterans Affairs, Calif. to mandate vaccines in health care
Reprints
All federal Department of Veteran Affairs workers will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19, and California’s health care personnel must either get a vaccine or be tested for the virus weekly, the agency and state both announced Monday afternoon following an earlier joint statement signed by more than 50 medical associations supporting mandatory vaccinations for health care professionals.
The VA, in the first federal vaccine mandate of its kind, will make vaccines mandatory for all Title 38 health care personnel, which includes physicians, dentists, nurses, physician assistants and more who work at VA health facilities, visit such facilities or provide direct care to veterans. Workers will have eight weeks to become fully vaccinated.
California will require all state workers and workers in health care and high-risk congregate settings to either show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week and wear appropriate personal protective equipment. High-risk settings defined in a statement include adult and senior residential facilities, homeless shelters and jails. The policy will take effect Aug. 2, and health care facilities will have until Aug. 23 to comply.
In the joint statement supporting vaccine mandates signed by organizations including the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians and the American Public Health Association, the associations said mandating vaccinations is “the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first.”
In mid-July, another group of organizations representing medical professionals, including the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America released a statement urging health care facilities to require employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Read Next
-
Biopharmaceutical firm sued over COVID-19 vaccine statements
A putative class-action securities lawsuit has been filed against a biopharmaceutical company that allegedly promised more than it could ultimately deliver in terms of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Related Stories
Most Read in Workers Comp
-
1. Zurich ordered to pay $80 million in suit over employee incentives
-
3. Marsh McLennan sees rate hikes slowing; reports revenue growth
-
4. Travelers sees rate hikes continue; Q1 profit up over 15%
-
5. DeSantis signs legislation prohibiting local workplace heat protections
-
6. AI not a ‘substitute,’ but can benefit insurance industry: Experts
