麻豆传媒

Managers and all new employees at Houston Methodist are required to get a COVID-19 vaccine, making the among the first healthcare entities to mandate vaccinations of at least some workers.

Others have also recently mandated the shots. That list includes at least three assisted-living facilities with centers in multiple markets: Silverado, Atria Senior Living, and Sunrise Senior Living, according to .

Houston Methodist already required that employees get vaccinated for the flu, according to a spokesperson, and will require that going forward as well. and did not return queries regarding flu shots by press time.

Houston Methodist managers have until April 15 to get at least their first coronavirus vaccine dose and new hires must be vaccinated before they start, according to an email from CEO Marc L. Boom, MD, shared by a spokesperson. The system's next step will be to mandate all 26,000 of its employees and employed physicians to get vaccinated, the spokesperson said. No deadline has been set for them yet.

"We must lead by example and get vaccinated ourselves," Boom wrote in the March 31 email, noting 95% of managers, all executives, and 83% of employees had already done so. "Show our employees how important getting vaccinated is."

Houston Methodist executives "have said for months" that vaccination would be mandatory for managers, Boom added.

Sunrise is mandating that employees be "fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than July 31," according to an update from management March 23. "This decision was made carefully with advice from public health officials to promote the safety of everyone in our community. Simply put, increasing vaccination rates is our best path forward to bring back more normalcy into our residents' day-to-day lives."

In addition, South Carolina lawmakers recently introduced that would require healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID statewide, according to a recent . But employers would be banned from enforcing such mandates for other state workers.

The S.C. Hospital Association supports the healthcare worker mandate, a spokesman told the newspaper. "Hospitals have an important responsibility to create the safest possible environment for the patients and communities," he said, noting that the bill as it stands gives "hospitals the flexibility they need to protect patients and employees from COVID-19."

But most hospitals nationwide are not invoking such requirements so far, an American Hospital Association executive told the Washington Post. Instead, they are offering incentives such as time off and bonuses.

Survey Shows Most Adults Favor Mandate

These mandates align with a new survey conducted by showing a majority of U.S. employees favor vaccine mandates.

When asked how they would react to employers mandating COVID-19 vaccination for them to work in-person, 59% of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed answered either "delighted" or "satisfied." Those responding "disgusted," "disappointed," "worried," or "frustrated" comprised 20.8% of the population, while 20.1% answered "meh."

No associations were apparent between feelings regarding vaccination mandates and either age or sex.

Adults ages 22-65 working either full-time or part-time for an employer administering a W-2 form were surveyed March 17-20, stratified by age group. Among the 1,000 surveyed, 11 were removed from examination because of incomplete surveys.

Comment