Scripps Health will require employees to be fully vaccinated by next month or they will no longer be employed, Scripps Health said in a statement.
Scripps Health said that to comply with the state's public health order, all of its employees must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 or qualify for a religious or medical exemption to continue being employed.
Scripps Health sent NBC 7 the following statement:
“In order to comply with the state’s public health order, Scripps is currently undergoing the process of verifying the COVID-19 vaccination status of all of its employees. Scripps is complying with the state mandate that those who have not been vaccinated will need to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 or qualify for a religious or medical exemption in order to be employed beyond that date here -- or likely at any other health care organization in the state.”
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This month, California mandated coronavirus vaccination for all healthcare workers, affecting more than 2 million people. The order from the Department of Public Health references the delta variant, a new version of the virus that is more contagious and can “cause more severe illness.”
“Increasing numbers of health care workers are among the new positive cases, despite vaccinations being prioritized for this group when vaccines initially became available,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, California's public health officer.
“Yeah, I think it always comes down to people and free will, if people want to get it or not but I think more often than not people who are already in that field already have it if they don’t they will probably get it soon especially with this mandate,” Scripps Health visitor Mike Alves said.
NBC 7 reached out to other health systems in the county to see where they stand on COVID-19 vaccines among employees.
Local
Sharp HealthCare said they will ask employees to be documented as vaccinated in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline or be tested for COVID-19 twice weekly.
Sharp HealthCare sent the following statement:
In accordance with the State Public Health Officer Order of Aug, 5, 2021, Sharp HealthCare will require its team members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 30, 2021, unless granted a qualified medical reason exemption or religious exemption.
Any Sharp team member who does not have a vaccination documented in our system must undergo twice-weekly testing for COVID-19 beginning Monday, Aug. 23, in advance of the Sept. 30 vaccination deadline. This includes team members with an approved exemption.
Sharp encourages all team members who are not currently vaccinated and are able to do so, to be vaccinated to meet the state requirement, but more importantly, for the health of our patients, workforce and San Diego community.
Scripps Health and Sharp Health’s policy will go into effect on Sept. 30 for all employees who don’t have a religious or medical exemption.
