Henry Ford Health System is the first in Michigan to announce it is requiring employees, students, volunteers and contractors to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We acknowledge the magnitude of this decision and we did not make it lightly,” said President and CEO Wright Lassiter III in a statement. “As a leader and trusted voice in our communities, our patients and members depend on us to create a safe, healthy environment. We owe that same promise to our team members. Safety and infection prevention are everyone’s responsibility.”
The mandate will take effect Sept. 10
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It’s a controversial announcement that comes as health systems in other states across the U.S. have also mandated vaccination as a condition of employment, while lawmakers in Montana and Arkansas have outlawed such vaccine mandates.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidelines that say employers legally can require workers to get vaccinated.
Houston Methodist was among the first hospital systems nationally to announce March 31 that it would require its employees to take COVID-19 vaccines.
The mandate was challenged in U.S. District Court, but was upheld. Judge Lynn Hughes ruled that unless workers meet legal health or religious exemptions, those who refuse vaccination “will simply need to work somewhere else.”
The Texas-based hospital system set a June 7 deadline for all employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 100% complied with the mandate, Becker’s Hospital Review reported.
Last week, the Connecticut Hospital Association announced all employees of the state’s 27 acute-care hospitals and other health care organizations — from nursing homes to rehabilitation centers and clinics — will require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.
At Henry Ford, so far 68% of employees — about 23,000 workers — have already been vaccinated for COVID-19.
“We have consistently advocated for vaccination as the best path forward for all of us,” said Bob Riney, COO and president of healthcare operations, in a statement. “But for vaccinations to truly make a deep and lasting impact on this pandemic, we need everyone in this fight. There is no greater compassion we can show each other than to be vigilant about safety and preventing the spread of this devastating disease.”
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Already, Henry Ford requires workers to get a flu shot every year and stay current with other vaccines, such as measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough.
In a letter obtained by the Free Press that was sent to employees, Lassiter wrote: “We know that some of you have chosen to decline or delay being vaccinated. … We are not the first organization to do this, and we will not be the last. But we are confident that the decision is right for us, right now.”
The Free Press contacted Beaumont Health, Sparrow, Spectrum Health, Ascension Michigan, McLaren Health Care, Michigan Medicine, the St. Joseph Mercy Health System and the Detroit Medical Center to ask whether they, too, would enforce similar mandates.
Only Michigan Medicine, Beaumont and the DMC immediately responded.
“At this time we are not mandating the vaccine,” said Jason Barczy, a spokesperson for the DMC. “Nearly 70% of employees have received the vaccine.”
Mary Masson, a spokesperson for Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine, said this: “I can confirm that as of now, Michigan Medicine is not mandating vaccination.”
Mark Geary, a spokesperson for Beaumont Health, told the Free Press: “Beaumont believes the vaccine is an important tool to help end the pandemic. At this time, we are not mandating the vaccine for our employees.”
Three coronavirus vaccines have been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Only Pfizer’s can be used in adolescents 12 and older. Moderna’s and J&J’s have been granted emergency authorization only for use in adults 18 and older.
None of the vaccines have gotten full approval from the FDA, though both Pfizer and Moderna have submitted applications seeking that approval.
All three vaccines are considered safe and effective in preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19, however there have been some concerns.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee met last week to review reports of heart complications among teens and young adults after they were immunized with either a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices acknowledged there likely is an association with myocarditis and pericarditis among 12- to 39-year-olds following vaccination. Cases have been reported at a rate of 12.6 per million people within 21 days after a second dose of the vaccine, though some cases have also been reported after the first dose as well.
The complication is more likely to occur in boys and young men, and the condition is most likely to appear within the first five days after vaccination. Most who developed the heart complication post-vaccination have made full recoveries.
In addition, the J&J vaccine has been associated with blood clots combined with low levels of blood platelets, known as thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome.
However the benefits of all three of the vaccines in stopping hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 were found to outweigh the risk of blood clots or heart complications.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.