Massachusetts hospitals and medical schools announced this week that they will require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Beth Israel Lahey Health said Tuesday that all doctors and hospital system staff must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus, as well as the flu, by Oct. 31 “as a condition of employment.” On Wednesday, the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine said faculty and staff should present proof of vaccination by Sept. 7.
Students at UMass School of Medicine were already due to receive the vaccine, the university said.
“This step reflects our top priority, which is to protect the health and safety of our campus and communities in general,” the school said in a statement. “The decision follows months of careful deliberation and monitoring of the pandemic; assessment of data, including infection trends, and, more recently, the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.”
If employees do not present proof of at least one dose of vaccine before September 7, their access to the UMass School of Medicine campus will be restricted and “may be subject to employer actions up to and including ‘dismissal,’ the school said.
The university has added that even vaccinated people should follow coronavirus protocols on campus, “including wearing a mask indoors, participating in surveillance tests if on campus one or more days in the week and follow the guidelines on hygiene, isolation and quarantine “.
UMass School of Medicine and Beth Israel Lahey Health said medical and religious exemptions would be considered, and the university noted that documentation should be provided.
Beth Israel Lahey Health said its Oct. 31 deadline remains “regardless of FDA authorization status.”
“We are now on the brink of another increase in COVID cases with the growing threat of the delta variant,” Kevin Tabb, president and CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health said in a video message. “We can prolong this pandemic by giving in and surrendering to our exhaustion and frustration, or we can commit to doing everything we can to fight it. We cannot give in and we cannot give up.”
The highly transmissible delta variant has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that all people, vaccinated or not, use indoor masks in public places in areas considered high or substantial risk, a classification that currently describes almost all of Massachusetts.