Cleveland Clinic announces COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Clinic announced Friday that it would require its employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Employees must receive the vaccine by Jan. 4, 2022, WJW reported.

In a statement posted on Cleveland Clinic’s website, the clinic cited federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates in issuing their own directive for employees. The clinic referred to a COVID-19 Vaccine Validation Program that it instituted to collect the vaccination status of employees throughout its U.S. locations. Cleveland Clinic said it is “proud that the majority of our caregivers are already vaccinated, and we are encouraging those who are not yet vaccinated to receive their vaccine as quickly as possible.”

The Biden-Harris administration, via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an emergency regulation on Nov. 4 requiring COVID-19 vaccination of eligible staff at health care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. According to the regulation, “All eligible staff must have received the necessary shots to be fully vaccinated – either two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson – by January 4, 2022.”

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