Medical groups including the AMA are calling on healthcare employers to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for those who work for them, reports the New York Times, which could affect those who work at laboratories in healthcare facilities.
A group of nearly 60 major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, called on Monday for mandatory vaccination of health care workers. As the highly contagious Delta variant drives a new surge of coronavirus cases, vaccination is an ethical obligation for health care workers, the groups said in a joint statement.
“Due to the recent Covid-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine,” the statement said. “This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being.”
The statement was signed by a wide array of professional associations, including those representing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and infectious disease experts.
Read more in the New York Times.