All employees, providers and volunteers, and contract staff must have the vaccine by Oct. 1.
AURORA, Colo. — All employees, providers, volunteers and partners at UCHealth will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 1 – those who are not in compliance with the policy will face termination, the hospital system announced on Wednesday.
Exemptions will be granted for valid medical or religious reasons and anyone who is granted one will be required to wear a mask at all times in UCHealth facilities and be tested weekly for COVID-19.
>The video above is about the delta variant and vaccine efficacy.
“After fighting COVID-19 for more than a year, and as the dangerous delta variant has become the dominant strain in Colorado and elsewhere, it is clear that vaccination against this disease is essential to protect our employees, along with our patients and visitors,” said Elizabeth Concordia, president and CEO of UCHealth.
The policy applies to all employees, medical staff, trainees, volunteers, vendors, medical students and contract staff. To date, nearly 85% of UCHealth’s 26,000 employees have received the vaccine, according to the health system.
A $500 bonus will be given to any employee who is fully vaccinated by Aug. 22.
The vaccine requirement comes as the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant spreads rapidly across the nation, leading to increasing cases of the disease. UCHealth said their hospitals are now caring for about 85 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 which is up from a month ago.
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A vast majority of them have not been vaccinated, according to Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention for UCHealth.
“The best way to stay safe from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Barron. “The vaccines have been proven to be safe and highly effective in preventing severe illness and hospitalization, even from the delta variant.
About 94% of our hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, and even for fully- vaccinated people who get sick, the vaccine reduces the severity of the illness.”
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UCHealth employees have the option of receiving the vaccine of their choice, which includes two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the J&J vaccine.
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