Ten prominent cardiovascular societies have joined forces to urge U.S. health systems to require their employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The recommendation comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb throughout the United States.
“Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, sacrificing their own health, well-being and, in many cases, their lives, to care for patients around the world suffering from coronavirus,” the groups wrote. “But the fight is not over. With the recent surge of new cases fueled by variants and the unvaccinated, patients are again overwhelming hospitals, and many are dying. The cardiovascular community believes that we cannot allow unvaccinated healthcare workers to put the vulnerable, the immunocompromised and unvaccinated children at risk within a healthcare setting.”
The societies emphasized that cardiovascular disease has been associated with adverse reactions to COVID-19. Choosing not to be vaccinated, they added, puts patients at risk, “both directly and indirectly.”
“Healthcare institutions have an ethical responsibility to protect the health and safety of their patients and their communities,” the groups concluded. “As our nation and the world continue to suffer from COVID-19 and increasing variants, we strongly believe all healthcare workers should become vaccinated and support requiring COVID vaccination as a condition of health system employment and vendor contracting.”
Groups signing off on the statement include:
- The American College of Cardiology
- American Society of Echocardiography
- American Society of Nuclear Cardiology
- Association of Black Cardiologists
- Heart Failure Society of America
- Heart Rhythm Society
- Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
- Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
- Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
- Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Read the statement here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.