HHS directs agency health care workers to be vaccinated

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will require more than 25,000 of its clinical and research staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, it announced Thursday.

In a statement, the agency said the requirement will be in place for all staff at the Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health who serve in federally operated health care and clinical research facilities and interact with patients, or even have the potential to come into contact with them.

HHS said the requirement will also be in place for members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps so they are prepared for potential deployment as emergency responders.

Not the only required vaccine: Those personnel are already required to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine as well as other routine vaccinations, with processes for medical and religious exemptions. 

HHS said the agencies would implement the COVID-19 vaccination requirement using the same processes that are already in place for other vaccines.

“Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our federal workforce, and vaccines are the best tool we have to protect people from COVID-19, prevent the spread of the delta variant, and save lives,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The agency’s move followed one from the Department of Veterans Affairs that required the shot for certain employees and the Department of Defense’s announcement that members of the military will have to be vaccinated.