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TAMPA, Florida – Two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors, a reversal of previous guidelines, President Joe Biden announced that all federal employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or wear a mask and have regular COVID tests.
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With the federal government being the largest employer in the United States, ABC Action News reached out to the largest employers in the Tampa Bay area to see how the updated guidelines and Biden’s announcement would affect them.
Please note that all information is up to date as of Thursday July 29th.
AdventHealth
- Based on scientific evidence, COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in reducing both the risk of getting infected and of passing the infection on to others. As part of our commitment to protect the health and well-being of our team members, patients and communities, we strongly encourage all of our team members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. At this time, AdventHealth has not imposed vaccines on our team members.
BayCare Health
Citigroup
- We updated our mask policy “as directed by CDC” and contacted employees yesterday. Masks are not required at offices or cafeterias (if social distancing). Masks are needed in common areas, elevators, etc. Bank employees still wear masks. Do not consider the vaccination mandate at this time.
Hillsborough Community College
- We take our guidance on these matters from the Florida Department of Education, as we are part of the Florida college system.
Jabil
- Jabil strongly encourages our employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when they are eligible. Employees who choose to be vaccinated are compensated for time off work if they receive the vaccine during their scheduled working hours. In addition, we have offered on-site vaccinations at several of our facilities to all eligible Jabil employees.
Johns Hopkins All Children
Lakeland Regional Health
- We continue to strongly encourage our team members to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as its effectiveness in fighting the virus is clearly evident. Vaccines are not required at this time at Lakeland Regional Health; but we will continue to assess the incentives that would encourage team members to get vaccinated. Our team members actively use high quality personal protective equipment and other safety measures in their work in our medical center and outpatient sites.
Moffitt Cancer Center
- The top priority of the Moffitt Cancer Center is the safety of our patients and members of our team. We are particularly concerned for our immunocompromised cancer patients, who may not be able to develop immunity after the vaccine, putting them at risk of developing COVID-19 infection. We continue to encourage team members to get vaccinated to protect these patients, themselves and their families. All staff are required to wear a mask when providing patient care. All unvaccinated team members are required to wear a mask at all times on our campus. We are closely following CDC guidelines and will continue to reassess our policy.
Pasco County Government
- Pasco County encourages everyone to take whatever precautions they feel are necessary to protect their health. Pasco County is working closely with the Pasco County Florida Department of Health to monitor COVID-19 in our community. The vast majority of positive cases now involve unvaccinated people. As a reminder, vaccines are available to all eligible people. Please visit the DOH Vaccine Locator webpage to find COVID-19 vaccination sites by county or city.
Pasco County Schools
- At Pasco County schools, we don’t intend to require employees – or students – to be vaccinated. We strongly encourage all of our employees and students aged 12 and over to be vaccinated. In fact, we have organized several events at designated schools and at the district office to offer the vaccine for free, and several have attended. However, we do not intend to impose vaccinations.
PGT Innovations
- PGT Innovations does not offer incentives to our team members to encourage vaccination; However, we assist members of our team who wish to be vaccinated by providing them with the vaccine through our on-site wellness clinic. We hosted a vaccination event for interested team members and their families on April 27 where all 55 available vaccines were administered. A second event is planned to welcome team members and their family members who could not be served during the first event. As we are a vital business, our facilities and offices have been open throughout the pandemic. In early 2020, we implemented numerous measures to protect the health and well-being of our team members, including adjusting work environments to allow social distancing, installing thermal cameras to identify temperatures bodily harm of anyone entering our facility, restricting visitor access and encouraging remote working options for applicable positions. We also have a mandatory mask policy in place, as it aligns with CDC guidelines and state recommendations. Since these precautions have significantly limited the exposure of our team members to the COVID-19 virus when they are at work during the height of the pandemic, we are not making it feel necessary to demand that our team members are vaccinated to work in our facilities.
Pinellas County Government
- The Pinellas County Council of Commissioners has not announced any plans or intention to adopt such a policy at this time. Pinellas County has coordinated with the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County to organize several employee vaccination clinics at government sites across the county to make it as easy as possible to vaccinate employees.
Sarasota County Schools
- The district cannot force employees or students to take a COVID test, nor can the district force employees or students to share test results. Likewise, the district cannot require employees or students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, nor can it request a person’s immunization status. The local Department of Health always advises us to implement social distancing when possible. Social distancing cannot be guaranteed and depends on the number of students and staff in any location at any given time. We will continue to follow DOH guidelines using current quarantine procedures. Classrooms, as well as high traffic areas and contact points, will continue to be cleaned regularly, as they have been over the past year. Our district has an optional face mask policy – it was discussed and approved by the school board at their July 13 meeting. . At this time, our traditional public schools will use the new optional face mask policy that has been approved by the school board. Additionally, our school board decided at its July 27 meeting that the optional face mask policy will be discussed in more detail at its next meeting on August 3.
Sarasota Memorial Health Care
St. Petersburg College
- Here is a link to our latest COVID update: https://www.spcollege.edu/spc-updates. Our working group meets weekly to continue to monitor all new developments and will modify our protocols as necessary.
University of South Florida
- USF strongly encourages vaccines and masks, but they are not mandatory.
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