Kaiser requires all employees to get vaccinated
(Photo: The Kaiser Permanente office in Vacaville is pictured in a panorama captured by a Google Street View vehicle in 2019. Photo courtesy Google, Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
Kaiser Permanente on Monday said it would require all of its employees, physicians and other staff working across its medical network to be fully vaccinated against the effects of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
The news comes as California deals with an increase in infections and hospitalizations attributed to the so-called “Delta” variant of the virus, with some hospitals complaining that they are at or near capacity.
Kaiser Permanente says it is working with the various labor unions who represent their workers in order to establish a vaccine policy, with the ultimate goal of having all staff workers vaccinated by the end of September.
“As the country’s largest integrated care delivery system, we feel it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help bring an end to the pandemic, especially in light of the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the highly infectious Delta variant,” Greg Adams, the chief executive officer of the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, said in a statement on Monday.
Adams said the overwhelming majority of individuals who are hospitalized with severe COVID-19 symptoms are patients who have still not receive a vaccine.
“Making vaccination mandatory [for our workers] is the most effective way we can protect our people, our patients, and the communities we serve,” Adams said. “We encourage all health systems and business and industry leaders across the country to play a role in ending the pandemic by doing the same.”
If all goes to plan, nearly 240,000 employees and physicians who work for Kaiser Permanente will be inoculated from the worst side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine does not prevent infection of COVID-19, but most patients who receive both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are largely protected from the worst side effects brought on by the virus.
The Delta variant, first discovered in India, is one of the most-contagious forms of the disease, and medical professionals who have treated COVID-19 cases in recent months say the majority of infections are attributed to that variant of the virus.
On Monday, competing health care provider NorthBay Healthcare complained that its hospitals in Vacaville and Fairfield were close to maxing out.
A spokesperson for NorthBay Healthcare affirmed the hospital chain was limiting most in-person visits for patients who are hospitalized with various ailments. Those who are dying from COVID-19 will be limited to just one visitor for one hour, the company said.
“We’ve seen the number of our COVID-19 cases grow by 900 percent since July 6 at our Fairfield hospital,” Dr. Seth Kaufman, the chief medical officer at NorthBay, said in a press release.
Health officials are urging members of the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with free vaccines widely available throughout Solano County. The county continues to offer free vaccination clinics on a near-daily basis, with information about these clinics posted regularly to the county’s COVID-19 vaccination portal.
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