Kaiser Permanente suspends 2,200 unvaccinated employees – NBC 7 San Diego



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Health giant Kaiser Permanente has put more than 2,200 employees nationwide on unpaid leave who have chosen not to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Employees have until Dec. 1 to get vaccinated so they can return to work and those who choose not to do so will be fired, the company said. Kaiser’s overall vaccination rate is 92%.

“We hope that none of our employees choose to quit their jobs rather than get vaccinated, but we won’t know for sure until then,” Kaiser said in a statement Tuesday. “We will continue to work with this group of employees to allay concerns and educate them about vaccines, their benefits and risks. “

The Oakland-based company announced the vaccination requirement on August 2. On August 5, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order requiring all of the state’s approximately 2.2 million healthcare workers and long-term care workers to be fully immunized against COVID. -19 by September 30.

Kaiser Permanente employs approximately 216,000 people nationwide. Since announcing its vaccination requirement, the vaccination rate among employees has fallen from 78% to 92% on Tuesday, the company said.

A month after California released its mandate, President Joe Biden ordered a broad federal vaccine mandate ordering companies with more than 100 workers to require weekly vaccinations or tests for the virus.

Vaccine mandates have proven to be successful, with many companies recording high compliance rates.

Northwell Health, New York State’s largest healthcare provider, employs more than 76,000 people. He said this week that he laid off 1,400 employees – or less than 2% of his staff – for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The laid-off workers include clinical and non-clinical staff, the company said.

At United Airlines, about 96% of employees have been vaccinated under warrant. About 3% have requested an exemption and less than 1% will be made redundant, the company said.

In Denver, at least 92% of municipal and medical facility workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 following its vaccination mandate that went into effect last Thursday.

The California ordinance allows exceptions for people who refuse the vaccine because of religious belief or who cannot be vaccinated for a qualifying medical reason, supported by a note signed by a licensed health care professional. Kaiser did not specify how many exemptions he approved for his California employees.

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