Inova To Require Employees Get COVID-19 Vaccine By September

NORTHERN VIRGINIA — Inova Health System plans to require all employees at its five hospitals and other health facilities it operates in Northern Virginia to get a COVID-19 vaccine by September.

Inova has about 18,000 employees, including part-time workers and contractors in the region, and is the largest health care system in Northern Virginia. By Sept. 1, all workers will be required to be immunized against COVID-19 in order to work at any of its locations, Washington Business Journal reported this week.

"We believe this a necessary step in prioritizing team member and patient safety, which align with our core values," Inova said in a statement emailed to Patch. "We are committed to answering questions and educating team members about the safety, efficacy and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine."

Inova appears to be the first hospital system in Northern Virginia to mandate its employees get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Elsewhere in Northern Virginia, Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington said it currently does not have a mandatory vaccination policy, but that 82 percent of its employees are fully vaccinated, the Washington Business Journal reported.

Virginia has yet to issue any guidance requiring all of its hospital and medical center workers to get vaccinated.

Earlier this month, hospitals in the District of Columbia committed to mandate vaccinations for their employees, including MedStar Health facilities, George Washington University Hospital and Children’s National Hospital.

The Maryland Hospital Association on June 9 issued guidelines stating that all employees and clinical team members should be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Under the statewide consensus, health systems and hospitals in Maryland will each set a date after which vaccination against COVID-19 will be a condition of employment (or contract engagement for non-employees who work at hospitals)," the Maryland Hospital Association said in a statement. "Hospitals will comply with all federal and state laws in granting appropriate exemptions for medical or religious reasons.”

The decision was based on expert guidance and data showing the minimal risk of COVID-19 vaccines, compared to their high rates of effectiveness, the association said. To date, roughly 70 percent of all Maryland hospital employees have been fully vaccinated.

Elsewhere in the U.S., more than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been fired or resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement. Houston Methodist Hospital system said 153 employees either resigned during a two-week suspension period or were terminated on Tuesday.

In a June 12 ruling, a U.S. District judge in Houston found the lead plaintiff's argument that the COVID-19 vaccines are "experimental and dangerous" to be false and otherwise irrelevant, The Associated Press reported. He also found that her likening the vaccination requirement to the Nazis' forced medical experimentation on concentration camp captives during the Holocaust to be "reprehensible."

Houston Methodist said the opponents of the vaccination policy are a small fraction of the total number of employees of the hospital system. Nearly 25,000 of the system’s more than 26,000 workers have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccine requirements, particularly in a public health crisis and pandemic, are likely to continue to be upheld in court as long as employers provide reasonable exemptions, including for medical conditions or religious objections, according to legal experts.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals and health care centers in the state, has been monitoring all aspects of safety for hospital employees and patients, from making sure there is enough personal protection equipment to monitoring the number of hospital beds.

Last fall, when a vaccine appeared to be coming soon, the VHHA issued guidance strongly encouraging medical workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The association worked with the state to make sure employees with clinical duties that put them on the front lines of treating COVID-19 patients were first in line to get vaccinated in December and January, said Julian Walker, vice president of communications for VHHA.

The vaccination process has remained a “fluid and evolving situation” since December when the first health care workers received the vaccine, Walker said.

When the VHHA board meets in mid-July, it could involve the adoption of a policy statement calling on all hospital employees to be vaccinated, he told Patch.

In Virginia, 60.0 percent of adults are fully vaccinated and 70.1 percent of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of June 24, according to Virginia Department of Health data.