More than 100 Novant Health employees fired for not receiving COVID-19 vaccine – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Nearly 200 of Novant Health’s 375 suspended employees who were not vaccinated last week have complied with its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination schedule, officials said Monday. The other employees were made redundant.

Novant unveiled its mandatory vaccination policy on July 22, going on to say it would require full compliance by September 15. In a press release, Novant Health said affected workers would have five days to comply with the vaccination mandate or be made redundant. .

Last Tuesday, Novant said nearly 400 of its employees were at risk of dismissal for non-compliance.

Now, the hospital system has said that over 99% of its more than 35,000 employees are currently compliant. He considers workers to be compliant if they have received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine or the first dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

According to Novant, employees with a single dose of Moderna or Pfizer have until Oct. 15 to get the second dose.

[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Novant says nearly 99% of workers are vaccinated; 375 face firings ]

After 16 years at Novant Health, nurse Laura Rushing said she was looking for a new job. She had hoped to withdraw from the hospital, but said denial of her exemption left her no recourse.

“When they released the warrant, one thing I’m sure I wasn’t going to shoot. So I asked for a religious exemption and was refused, ”Rushing said. “Who decided on my religious exemption, the wording used was not good enough?” Wasn’t it as good as someone else’s? It sounds like discrimination and I didn’t like it.

Tina Terry, Channel 9, asked Novant if layoffs and resignations related to the vaccination mandate will impact staff shortages and patient care. The hospital system sent the following statement:

“We are still recruiting, and any recruiting effort would not be a direct response to the mandate. Like health systems across the country, we are affected by a national nursing shortage, which existed before the pandemic and has been further exacerbated by the pandemic.

“We continue to be proactive in addressing this shortage and have developed comprehensive staffing contingency plans to prepare for a range of different scenarios. “

(Watch below: Hundreds of people gather in Freedom Park to protest Atrium, mandate to vaccinate Novant Health employees)