Methodist Health System will require its 10,000 employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 1 — offering a bonus as an added incentive.
The Dallas-based nonprofit becomes the second major health care network in North Texas to require shots, following Wednesday’s announcement by Baylor Scott & White that it will make the vaccine mandatory for its 40,000 workers. Methodist notified its staff via email Thursday.
Once the system reaches its goal of having 100% percent of its staff either vaccinated or exempted with a valid reason, Methodist pledges to pay a $500 bonus to full-time employees and $250 to part-time workers.
Employees can seek medical and religious exemptions to the vaccination requirement.
Methodist did not provide a figure for the percentage of its employees currently vaccinated, but instead said “most” have received their shots. It was the first hospital system in North Texas to receive COVID-19 vaccines and offer shots to employees at its 12 hospitals and more than 50 family health centers and medical groups.
Over 70 health care providers have now adopted vaccination requirements since Houston Methodist announced a mandate four months ago. They include the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.; Mass General Brigham in Boston; University of California Health; and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
In North Texas, other major health care systems like Parkland Health & Hospital System, Texas Health Resources and Medical City Healthcare encourage vaccinations but do not require them.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in North Texas is expected to increase sharply over the next several weeks. In a report updated July 21, UT Southwestern said hospital volumes had risen 89% in the previous two weeks.
Methodist’s email to employees cited the delta variant and spike in COVID-19 infections as the reasoning for the mandate. Nationwide, 97% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll recently found that one-fifth of Americans who reported being hesitant or opposed to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in January have since received their shots. The poll also identified common concerns among the unvaccinated, including worries about side effects and the speed with which the vaccine was produced.
In a post on the UT Southwestern website, Dr. Sonja Bartolome said avoiding the vaccine allows the virus to mutate, increasing the likelihood of future variants and extending the amount of time that preventive measures such as masking and travel restrictions will be necessary.
The “one and done” nature of the vaccines mean enzymes in them degrade quickly, as opposed to daily medications that build up in the body, she wrote. Side effects typically last a day or two, and serious side effects will be detectable within two months. Clinical trials for the vaccine followed thousands of people for 60 days before safety data was submitted.
Bartolome said the vaccines were subjected to rigorous testing and development was expedited by accelerating or eliminating administrative processes and by conducting clinical trials at the same time rather than in succession.
