Parkland Health & Hospital System says that it is requiring its employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19, The Dallas Morning News reports. The hospital is also asking those who cannot be vaccinated to file for an exemption.
The hospital’s vaccine mandate comes despite President Joe Biden’s administration vaccine mandate for healthcare workers being blocked by the courts, and Governor Greg Abbott tried to ban vaccine mandates in Texas.
According to Parkland Health & Hospital System, almost all 12,000 employees have either gotten vaccinated or filed for an exemption. The hospital system’s senior vice president for communications Michael Malaise said in a statement that 97% of the employees are either vaccinated or have applied for an exemption.
The hospital did not provide details of the employees who have done one or the other. The penalty for employees who refuse to get vaccinated or file for exemption is unclear.
According to a report by The Dallas Morning News, Malaise said in July that requiring vaccinations will help keep the hospital’s staff and patients protected from COVID. He, however, said they had not decided to mandate vaccines yet at the time.
Malaise said that the hospital has always expressed hope to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the immunizations its employees are required to receive for the safety of patients and employees.
“We continue to move in that direction,” he said.
It is unclear whether or how employees and visitors are screened at the door. Per The Dallas Morning News, the hospital did say that it has required all employees and visitors to wear masks since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
