Nearly 60 medical groups call for mandatory Covid vaccinations for all health workers

 

Nearly 60 medical groups call for mandatory Covid vaccinations for all health workers

Fifty-seven of the leading medical organizations in the United States, representing millions of doctors and nurses, have called for mandatory vaccination of all health care workers.

"We call on all healthcare and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19," the two organizations said in a statement on Monday. "The health and safety of workers, families, communities and the American nation depends on it."

The joint statement comes as the United States faces another wave of coronavirus infections, this time fueled by a highly contagious delta variant. Since July 1, the number of daily cases has quadrupled, according to data compiled by The New York Times, and is now at about 52,000 new cases per day.

Meanwhile, even though highly effective vaccines are available across the country, many Americans refuse to take the health care workers included. 

The 57 groups said in their statement that the only solution was to make the vaccine mandatory.

"Unfortunately, many healthcare and long-term care workers remain unvaccinated," the medical groups wrote. "As we move toward full FDA approval of currently available vaccines, all health care workers must be vaccinated for their health and to protect their colleagues and families, residents of long-term care facilities, and patients."

The decision was taken by the American Medical Association, the American Nursing Association, the American Pharmacists' Association, and dozens of other groups.

After eighteen months of the pandemic, which began in the United States with strict closures and inundating hospitals, health care groups have stressed that they do not want to go back.