CDC Director: Loss of Unvaccinated Health Care Workers Is a ‘Challenge’

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a proceeding astatine the U.S. Capitol successful Washington, connected May 11, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said COVID-19 vaccine mandates for wellness attraction workers volition apt make unit shortages astir the United States, echoing the caller warnings of immoderate infirmary main executives.

“We person seen that these vaccine mandates get much radical vaccinated,” Walensky said during a “Good Morning America” quality connected Sept. 27. “It perfectly creates a challenge. What I would accidental is [we need] to bash immoderate enactment … to conscionable them wherever they are, to recognize wherever their hesitancy is truthful we tin get them vaccinated and get them backmost to work.”

During the interview, Walensky didn’t connection a definitive program to code the imaginable shortfall of wellness attraction workers.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said successful a Sept. 25 connection that she whitethorn direct medically trained members of the state’s National Guard to regenerate wellness attraction workers who resign oregon are terminated owed to the state’s vaccine mandate. The politician besides floated the thought of utilizing out-of-state nurses, accredited workers from different countries, oregon tapping retired nurses who person been vaccinated to regenerate them.

The deadline for New York state’s wellness attraction workers to person the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine was Sept. 27. According to the governor’s office, astir 16 percent of the state’s aesculapian workers haven’t received the vaccine.

Earlier this month, Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Gerald Cayer said the Lewis County General Hospital successful Lowville, New York, won’t person the capacity to present babies successful the adjacent aboriginal aft six employees astatine the firm’s maternity ward resigned alternatively of taking the vaccine.

“If we tin intermission the work and present absorption connected recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we volition beryllium capable to reengage successful delivering babies present successful Lewis County,” Cayer said astatine a quality league connected Sept. 10.

A national justice connected Sept. 14 temporarily suspended the statewide vaccination mandate for wellness attraction workers aft a radical filed a suit against the state, arguing that their Constitutional rights were violated due to the fact that spiritual exemptions weren’t allowed.

Last week, 10 individual authorities infirmary information officers filed a lawsuit against Hochul, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, and the New York State Health Department and are seeking the enactment of regular COVID-19 investigating alternatively of being forced to person the vaccine.