Mayo Clinic still giving staff COVID shots on final day before deadline

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Jan. 3—Monday, Jan. 3, is the final day for Mayo Clinic employees to be injected or rejected.

Mayo Clinic is still vaccinating employees against COVID-19 on the deadline to get the shot, be exempted for religious reasons or be "released from employment."

"Staff who are not compliant with the required vaccination program on Jan. 3 will be released from employment. It is expected that staff will continue to get first doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 3 to become compliant with the required vaccination program," according to a statement released by Mayo Clinic Spokesperson Kelley Luckstein.

Mayo Clinic did not answer any questions on Monday morning about the number of unvaccinated employees it has.

More detail will be available after the conclusion of the required vaccination program. On Dec. 3, Mayo Clinic reported that 93 percent of its 73,000 employees across all of its campuses had been vaccinated.

That number could be updated, after the final last-minute vaccinations are given.

"More detail will be available after Jan. 3, after the conclusion of the required vaccination program," wrote Luckstein on Monday.

To be considered vaccinated, employees need to have received at least one dose of vaccine and are not overdue for a second Moderna and Pfizer shot.

As for employee exemptions, Mayo Clinic stated, "The majority of medical and religious exemption requests were approved."

Mayo Clinic has not reported how many employees asked for exemptions, how have been approved or the criteria to be considered "religious."

In July, Mayo Clinic reported having 16,498 unvaccinated employees. That number dropped to 8,978 by October and to 5,100 at the start of December.

Luckstein stressed that the goal of the vaccination requirement is to keep staff and patients safe and Mayo Clinic would prefer to not terminate any employees.

"Based on science and data, it's clear that vaccination keeps people out of the hospital and saves lives. That's true for everyone in our communities — and it's especially true for the many patients with serious or complex diseases who seek care at Mayo Clinic each day," she wrote. "Mayo Clinic is deeply grateful to our staff who are working tirelessly and showing tremendous dedication to delivering the highest level of care to our patients in extremely challenging circumstances. With the rising wave of infections from the omicron variant, Mayo Clinic also urges all who are not vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible. And if you are eligible for a booster, Mayo Clinic urges you to get a booster as soon as possible to help protect your health and the health of everyone around you."