Hundreds to thousands of health care workers could lose their jobs for failing to comply with vaccine mandates at two of the state's largest hospital systems.
Friday is the deadline for employees at Mass General Brigham and Boston Medical Center to receive their first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
"Employees are still submitting documentation so we won’t know exact numbers until next week," a spokeswoman for Mass General Brigham said.
About 97% of the more than 80,0000 employees are vaccinated at Mass General Brigham, the state's largest hospital system. But around 2,000 either have not yet received their shots or have not provided proof of vaccination, the spokeswoman said.
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Earlier this month, officials at hospitals across the state told The Boston Globe they don't expect the number of employees who are fired because of vaccine mandates to result in cuts to patient services, but they were stepping up recruitment and retention efforts just in case.
Boston Medical Center employees were required to get one dose of the vaccine by Friday, Oct. 15. As of last week, 90 percent of the 9,500 workers had done so, the Globe reported. That leaves approximately 8,550 employees out of compliance and at risk of losing their jobs.
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Nearly all hospitals in Massachusetts have announced vaccine mandates for employees with deadlines in October and November.
At Beth Israel Lahey Health, 91% of the 35,000-member workforce has been vaccinated, but about 3,000 employees had yet to comply with an Oct. 31 deadline as of last week.
At the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, more than 99% of workers had been vaccinated, while 54 people had been suspended without pay for refusing the vaccine as of last week. They have another weeks to begin their vaccinations or leave their jobs, the hospital said.
Some hospitals are suspending employees before firing them altogether. The full impact of these mandates will become more clear in the coming weeks.
