(KTXL) — Kaiser Permanente announced Monday it is requiring all of its physicians and employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine before the end of September.

As of Saturday, a representative with Kaiser Permanente said 78% of its employees and 95% of its physicians had already been fully vaccinated. More than 216,000 employees and more than 23,000 physicians work for the hospital system.

“As the country’s largest integrated care delivery system, we feel it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help bring an end to the pandemic, especially in light of the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the highly infectious Delta variant” said Greg A. Adams, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc. “Large groups of unvaccinated people are fueling the current increase in cases and 97-99% of COVID-19 hospital admissions are unvaccinated patients. Making vaccination mandatory is the most effective way we can protect our people, our patients and the communities we serve. We encourage all health systems and business and industry leaders across the country to play a role in ending the pandemic by doing the same.”

Employees and physicians will be given paid time off to get vaccinated, Kaiser Permanente said.

The release said Kaiser is “working with its labor unions on implementation of the employee vaccination mandate.” Employees can also apply for medical or religious exemption, the representative wrote.

A new state rule went into effect Monday that requires all California health care and state workers to show proof of vaccination or get tested on a once- or twice-weekly basis.