The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule lifting the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for workers at healthcare entities that accept federal funding, a decision set to go into effect as soon as early August.
“As conditions and circumstances of the COVID-19 [Public Health Emergency] have evolved, so too has the CMS response,” the agency said. “At this point in time, we believe that the risks targeted by the staff vaccination [requirements] have been largely addressed, so we are now aligning our approach with those for other infectious diseases, specifically influenza.”
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The White House announced on May 1 that the vaccination mandate for federal employees was to end with the final day of the official public health emergency on May 11. At the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would begin the process of removing vaccination requirements for Head Start educators and CMS-certified healthcare facilities.
Testing requirements for healthcare facility workers will also expire when the rule goes into effect 60 days after it is officially published in the Federal Register on June 5.
Estimates suggest the mandate impacted 17 million healthcare workers when it took effect in November 2021. Over 230,000 medical professionals left the healthcare industry in 2021, many citing COVID-19 burnout. Thousands of others left the profession due to the vaccination mandates, which contributed to the existing physician and nursing shortages.
In the text of the proposed rule, CMS credits vaccination mandates with the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants “whose adverse health impacts are on average less severe” than the first wave of the infection. The agency will continue, therefore, to encourage vaccination without a mandate in place.
“Vaccinating staff protects both staff and patients, as does vaccinating patients,” said the agency. “In this regard, we emphasize that our current and planned use of data on both staff and patient vaccination rates will maintain consistent pressure on the healthcare providers and suppliers regulated by CMS to maintain and improve current success rates.”
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The White House made similar points last month in ending the health emergency.
“While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary,” the White House said.
