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700 employees from the Mayo Clinic were fired this week for not complying with the COVID-19 mandate for vaccines.
The medical center, Minnesota’s largest employer, has campuses in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota and also operates hospitals in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Employees were given until Monday to get vaccinated or get approval for an exemption. On Tuesday, the hospital sacked employees who didn’t comply with the requirements, according to Action News Jax, an affiliate of CBS affiliate in Florida.
The 700 employees make up about 1% of Mayo Clinic’s workforce of 73,000. According to the news source there are no employees from Jacksonville, FL have been affected to date.
Action News Jax was told by a spokesperson from Mayo Clinic that Florida staff who are not in compliance to our vaccination program will continue to work in the event of a litigation involving the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requirements.
The federal government and Florida remain at odds over mandates to use vaccines and a number of lawsuits are circulating through the court system. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in November that prohibits private Florida employers from requiring all employees to get vaccinated and provides a variety of exemption options, according toto The Florida Times-Union. The law in Florida is in conflict with a federal regulation that requires vaccinations for all health care workers at hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
The Mayo Clinic mandate required employees to receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and not be “overdue” for another dose, according to the statement. Only medical and religious exemptions were allowed. Most religious and medical exemptions were approved.
“While Mayo Clinic is saddened to lose valued employees, we need to take all steps necessary to ensure that our patients, workforce visitors, and communities safe,” Mayo Clinic wrote in its statement. “If employees who are released from work decide to get vaccinations at a later date, the opportunity exists for them to apply and return to Mayo Clinic for future job openings.”
With the latest increase in COVID-19-related cases due to the Omicron variant, the Mayo Clinic also encouraged unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated and those who qualify for a booster vaccine to receive one “as as soon as is possible.”
“Based on science and data it’s evident that vaccination helps keep patients out of the hospital and can save lives,” according to the statement. “This is applicable to all our communities but is especially applicable to patients suffering from complex or serious diseases who seek care at Mayo Clinic every day.”
SOURCES:
Action News Jax: “Mayo Clinic dismisses 700 employees who fail to follow the vaccine mandate.”
The Florida Times-Union: “Mayo Clinic fired about 700 unvaccinated staff. The only exception was from Jacksonville — yet.”
