Staff Contact: Daniel Landon or Jane Drummond
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its anticipated regulation mandating COVID-19 vaccination of workers in hospitals, nursing homes and most other health care settings. On Sept.9, The Biden administration announced the coming mandate as a component of its pandemic response plan.
The interim final rule requires that the first dose of a two-dose vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, must be administered by Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. All eligible staff must have completed the vaccination process by Jan. 4, 2022. CMS will solicit public comments about the regulation for 60 days after its expected Nov. 5, publication in the Federal Register.
The CMS regulation allows for exemptions from the vaccine requirement based on religious or medical grounds. Medical exemptions must be based on recognized clinical contraindications to the vaccine, documented by a licensed practitioner. CMS issued a fact sheet and MHA published an issue brief with additional details.
Concurrently, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a parallel regulation requiring COVID-19 vaccination of workers in private organizations with 100 or more employees. The OSHA rule does not apply to hospitals. Unvaccinated workers will be required to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. The OSHA rule does not apply to hospitals and also provides for medical and religious exemptions.