Kaiser Permanente requiring COVID vaccines for all employees, physicians

CDC reports 70% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Businesses and agencies starting to require vaccination of employees — On Monday, the Washington State Hospital Association urged medical facilities to require similar policies.

SEATTLE - Kaiser Permanente announced it will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all its employees and physicians as COVID and delta variant cases surge across the country.

"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," said Greg A. Adams, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc.

As of July 31, 77.8% of Kaiser Permanente employees and more than 95% of Permanente Medical Group physicians have been fully vaccinated, the organization said.

Kaiser Permanente has set a target date of Sept. 30 to achieve a fully vaccinated workforce.

"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," Adams said.

The Kaiser Permanente organization includes more than 216,000 employees and more than 23,000 Permanente Medical Group physicians.

Stay connected with Q13 News on all platforms:

DOWNLOAD: Q13 News and Weather Apps
WATCH: Q13 News Live
SUBSCRIBE: Q13 FOX on YouTube
DAILY BRIEF: Sign Up For Our Newsletter
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram