Joint National Hospital Associations Statement on COVID-19 Vaccinations for Health Care Workers

July 27, 2021

America’s Essential Hospitals
American Hospital Association
Association of American Medical Colleges
Catholic Health Association of the United States 
Children’s Hospital Association

The health, safety and well-being of health care personnel – and the patients and communities they serve – is the highest priority for America’s hospitals and health systems. The evidence supporting COVID-19 vaccination is clear, strong and growing. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at reducing substantially the risks of becoming infected, spreading the infection to others and becoming severely ill or dying from the disease.

For health care personnel, the COVID-19 vaccines are an especially powerful tool because they not only provide strong protection against the virus to vaccinated staff, but also reduce significantly the likelihood of inadvertently carrying and spreading COVID-19 to patients and peers. The protections afforded by the COVID-19 vaccines are imperative in health care settings, which treat people with weakened immune systems who are unable to be vaccinated or to whom vaccination is not yet available, including children and infants. 

As representatives of America’s hospitals and health systems, we stand united in strongly urging all health care personnel to get the COVID-19 vaccination, given the disease’s known and substantial risks to the unvaccinated of severe illness, death and long-term complications. We encourage hospitals to maintain their ongoing efforts to educate staff and their communities about COVID-19 vaccinations.

We also support hospitals and health systems that implement mandatory vaccination policies or any other reasonable steps to achieving high levels of COVID-19 vaccination within their organizations, with the appropriate accommodations for medical or religious reasons. Local factors and circumstances, along with relevant local, state and federal laws and regulations, will shape each organization’s chosen strategy. 

###