50 Top Healthcare Groups Call for Mandating Vaccination of Healthcare Workers

50 Top Healthcare Groups Call for Mandating Vaccination of Healthcare Workers

Fifty of the top health care groups in the United States -- including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association -- issued a joint statement calling for all health care and long-term care employers to mandate employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being. Because of highly contagious variants, including the Delta variant, and significant numbers of unvaccinated people, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are once again rising throughout the United States," wrote the groups in the joint statement.

"Vaccination is the primary way to put the pandemic behind us and avoid the return of stringent public health measures. Unfortunately, many health care and long-term care personnel remain unvaccinated. As we move towards full FDA approval of the currently available vaccines, all health care workers should get vaccinated for their own health, and to protect their colleagues, families, residents of long-term care facilities and patients. This is especially necessary to protect those who are vulnerable, including unvaccinated children and the immunocompromised. Indeed, this is why many health care and longterm care organizations already require vaccinations for influenza, hepatitis B, and pertussis. We call for all health care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We stand with the growing number of experts and institutions that support the requirement for universal vaccination of health workers.2,3 While we recognize some workers cannot be vaccinated," according to the statement issued Monday.

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"Because of highly contagious variants, including the Delta variant, and significant numbers of unvaccinated people, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are once again rising throughout the United States. Vaccination is the primary way to put the pandemic behind us and avoid the return of stringent public health measures," the statement added.

 

The organizations signing the letter are as follows:

Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) American Academy of Nursing (AAN) American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) American Academy of PAs (AAPA) American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN) American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) American College of Physicians (ACP) American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) American College of Surgeons (ACS) American Epilepsy Society (AES) American Medical Association (AMA) American Nurses Association (ANA) American Pharmacists Association (APhA) American Psychiatric Association (APA) American Public Health Association (APHA) American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) American Society of Hematology (ASH) American Society of Nephrology (ASN) American Thoracic Society (ATS) Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) HIV Medicine Association Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) LeadingAge National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) National League for Nursing (NLN) National Medical Association (NMA) National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) Nurses Who Vaccinate (NWV) Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc (PNAA) Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Texas Nurses Association (TNA) The John A. Hartford Foundation Transcultural Nursing Society (TCNS) Virgin Islands State Nurses Association (VISNA) Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN)