Dozens of medical groups are calling on employers to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all health care workers.
In a joint statement published on Monday, 57 organizations - including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the National League for Nursing -noted the rise in case in the U.S. due to the Indian 'Delta' variant spreading among unvaccinated populations.
'We call for all health care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
'The health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.'
The groups add that mandating vaccines will help protect not only patients but also vulnerable people, including unvaccinated children and the immunocompromised.
It comes as several health systems across the country mandate that their staff members get vaccinated or risk being fired.
In a joint statement on Monday, 57 medical groups called on employers to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all health care workers. Pictured:
Several experts and institutions have issued statements supporting that all health workers get vaccinated, but the joint statement is the largest to date.
'While we recognize some workers cannot be vaccinated because of identified medical reasons and should be exempted from a mandate, they constitute a small minority of all workers,' the statement read.
'Employers should consider any applicable state laws on a case-by-case basis.'
The statement represents the first time that many of these groups have called for a mandate as the pace of vaccinations
