CLEVELAND — Frontline healthcare workers from Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals gathered at Miller Pavillion on Friday to protest mandatory vaccinations for COVID-19.
The workers marched from Miller Pavillion to University Hospitals.
The federal government's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring that health care workers at certain facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid be fully vaccinated. As a result, both the Clinic and UH are requiring vaccinations for all staff by January 4, 2022.
Both Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals released statements about the protest to 3News.
From UH: "Getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to protect against severe illness from COVID-19, including hospitalization and death, and to limit the spread to others.
UH is required, as a provider of care to Medicare and Medicaid patients, to comply with the vaccine mandate issued by the federal government for health care providers.
The overwhelming majority of our caregivers are vaccinated against COVID-19 and we encourage those who remain unvaccinated to receive their shots. Throughout this pandemic, our caregivers have continued to rise to the occasion to serve our community, our patients, and to take care of each other."
From Cleveland Clinic:
“We understand that there are caregivers in our health system and in hospitals across the U.S. who oppose the COVID-19 vaccination requirements announced by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). However, these federal mandates are clear that healthcare workers must be fully vaccinated at hospitals regulated by CMS.
As a health system, if we do not comply with the CMS vaccination requirements this would have a direct and extraordinary impact on our ability to care for patients, including potentially limiting critical health services we can offer.
We value each of our caregivers and are proud that the majority of our caregivers are already vaccinated. We are strongly encouraging those who are not yet vaccinated to receive their vaccine as quickly as possible so they can continue helping us care for our community.”
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