Children's Minnesota joins others in requiring employee vaccination; HealthPartners may follow
Aug. 4—Children's Minnesota is joining eight local health care organizations in requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for employees, staff, volunteers and contractors.
The requirement will be in effect Sept. 7 at the soonest, with some exemptions for medical and religious reasons. This decision came with the recent surge in cases and the spread of new variants of the virus. There is also no vaccine available to children under 12, the majority of patients at the Twin Cities hospital and clinic system.
"By requiring employees to get vaccinated, we can help prevent the kids we care for, and their families, from becoming severely ill or from dying from COVID-19," a statement from Children's said.
As of now, 86 percent of Children's Minnesota employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Employees can receive a vaccine through the employee health services office.
Meanwhile, HealthPartners said they are working on a similar employee vaccination program to other health care organizations. HealthPartners operates more than 300 clinics, care centers, hospitals total across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On Tuesday, Allina Health and Fairview Health Services announced similar vaccination requirements for workers.
