Mount Sinai Mandates COVID-19 Vaccination for All Faculty and Staff
Rapid spread of Delta variant along with increase in cases prompts move
Mount Sinai Health System today announced that all faculty and staff will be required to get the first shot of the vaccine by September 13. Leaders at the largest health system in New York City made the decision amid increases in cases caused by the rapid spread of the Delta variant and as an added measure to protect faculty and staff who have worked tirelessly caring for patients during this pandemic.
Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System, said in an internal message to all staff:
“Over the past weeks and months, we have worked hard to encourage every member of our Mount Sinai family to get vaccinated against COVID-19, to protect you, your patients, your coworkers, your families, and your communities. We are grateful for those of you who got the vaccine.
Given the increased incidence and the rapid spread of the Delta variant, we will be making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all faculty and staff, with limited exceptions for religious and medical reasons. This will apply to employees at all Mount Sinai locations, including hospital, ambulatory, academic, corporate, and other sites.
All employees covered by this mandate will need to get their first shot by Monday, September 13. Those who do not get the shot and do not receive a medical or religious exemption will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. We will provide more details on the timeline and process shortly.
Mount Sinai Health System has always firmly believed that we are different than other large New York metropolitan region employers. As a hospital, a school, and a health care provider, we have responsibilities not only to each other, but to the communities we serve. And the right thing to do for our communities—and our Mount Sinai family—is to make sure we are all vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccines are simply the best protection we have against this virus, and our patients deserve the best.
Please note that we will continue to implement the vaccine-or-testing protocol that we first announced in June. Starting in September, faculty and staff who receive a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine mandate must undergo this weekly testing.
Again, to the large majority of you who are already vaccinated—whether you were first in line in December or just got your first shot last week—thank you. To those of you who have not been vaccinated, we want you to understand why we are announcing this so early: to respectfully allow you more time to learn, look at the data, and become comfortable with getting vaccinated. Also, we now anticipate the Food and Drug Administration will grant full approval to at least one of the COVID-19 vaccines very soon. There is a lot of information on our employee and community vaccine websites. To make a vaccine appointment at Mount Sinai, please click here, or check the New York State, New York City, New Jersey, or Connecticut websites for options.
We are committed to ending this pandemic and keeping our Mount Sinai family and the communities we serve safe. We look forward to the day when this pandemic is really behind us. And we believe that, together in service, our actions will help to make that possible.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2023-2024.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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