CMS Now Requires COVID-19 Vaccinations for Healthcare Workers by January 4

美国核心脏病学会(ASNC)主席兰迪·汤普森博士在去年12月首次提供COVID-19疫苗时正在接种疫苗。近一年后，一些医护人员仍然坚持接种，拒绝接种疫苗，这促使CMS现在要求接受医疗保险和医疗补助患者的所有医护人员接种COVID疫苗。#COVID #COVID19 #vaccinations #COVIDvaccine

美国核心脏病学会(ASNC)主席兰迪·汤普森博士在去年12月首次提供COVID-19疫苗时正在接种疫苗。近一年后，一些医护人员仍然坚持接种，拒绝接种疫苗，这促使CMS现在要求接受医疗保险和医疗补助患者的所有医护人员接种COVID疫苗。

November 4, 2021 — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued an emergency regulation now requiringCOVID-19vaccinations for all eligible staff at healthcare facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

CMS has set a deadline of Dec. 5 for healthcare facilities to create a COVID vaccination requirement policy and a deadline of Jan. 4, 2022 for all staff at these facilities to be fully vaccinated.

CMS表示，新规定旨在保护那些在第一线抗击病毒的人，同时也向个人及其家人保证，他们在寻求治疗时将受到保护。这项新规定是拜登-哈里斯政府遏制病毒、缓解公众因病毒而害怕前往医疗机构的努力的一部分。这项政策也是为了解决医护人员面临的问题，他们接触病毒的风险要高得多，当他们被感染并在新病例高峰期间休假时，会给医疗系统带来压力。

“未接种疫苗的工作人员对他们服务的患者构成了直接和间接的威胁。在保护个人的同时，疫苗是保护和恢复全国医疗保健系统高效运作的关键科学工具，”CMS在宣布新规定的新闻稿中说。"This new requirement presents an opportunity to continue driving down COVID-19 infections, stabilize the nation’s health care system, and ensure safety for anyone seeking care."

CMS表示，这些要求将适用于全国约7.6万家医疗机构，覆盖1700多万名医护人员。该规定将在医疗保险和医疗补助计划中建立一个一致的标准，同时向患者保证提供护理的人的疫苗接种状况。

The prevalence of COVID-19, in particular the Delta variant, within healthcare settings increases the risk of unvaccinated staff contracting the virus and transmitting the virus to patients, CMS said in its announcement of the new regulations today. When healthcare staff cannot work because of illness or exposure to COVID-19, CMS said the strain on the healthcare system becomes more severe and further limits patient access to safe and essential care.

“Ensuring patient safety and protection from COVID-19 has been the focus of our efforts in combating the pandemic and the constantly evolving challenges we’re seeing,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Today’s action addresses the risk of unvaccinated healthcare staff to patient safety and provides stability and uniformity across the nation’s healthcare system to strengthen the health of people and the providers who care for them.”

Healthcare Facilities Need to Establish a COVID Vaccination Policy by December 5

Facilities covered by this regulation must establish a policy ensuring all eligible staff have received the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine prior to providing any care, treatment, or other services by Dec. 5, 2021.

All Healthcare Facility Staff Need to be Vaccinated by January 4

All eligible staff must have received the necessary shots to be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022. This means either two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccines. The regulation also provides for exemptions based on recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs, observances or practices. Facilities must develop a similar process or plan for permitting exemptions in alignment with federal law.

CMS accelerated outreach and assistance efforts encouraging individuals working in health care to get vaccinated following the Administration’s announcement that it would expand the requirement for staff vaccination beyond nursing homes to include additional providers and suppliers. Since the Administration’s announcement, nursing home staff vaccination rates have increased by approximately nine percentage points – from 62 to 71 percent. This increase is encouraging, and this regulation will help to ensure even greater improvement in the vaccination rate among healthcare workers.

Enforcement of the CMS COVID Vaccination Regulation

CMS will ensure compliance with these requirements through established survey and enforcement processes. If a provider or supplier does not meet the requirements, it will be cited by a surveyor as being non-compliant and have an opportunity to return to compliance before additional actions occur. CMS’s goal is to bring healthcare providers into compliance. However, the agency said it will not hesitate to use its full enforcement authority to protect the health and safety of patients.

Which Healthcare Facilities Need to Comply With the CMS COVID Vaccination Regulation?

The new CMS regulation requiring COVID vaccinations for all staff includes nearly all types of healthcare facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid payments for service. The requirements apply to:
• Hospitals
• Ambulatory Surgical Centers
• Hospices
• Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
• Long Term Care facilities
• Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities
• Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
• Home Health Agencies
• Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
• Critical Access Hospitals
• Clinics, which includes rehabilitation agencies and public health agencies as providers of outpatient physical therapy and speech-language pathology services
• Community mental health centers
• Home infusion therapy suppliers
• Rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers
• End-stage renal disease facilities

Read the full CMS regulation requiring COVID vaccinations

COVID Vaccines Required at RSNA and ASTRO 2021 Meetings

自8月以来或计划在未来几个月举行的几次医学会议要求所有与会者接种疫苗。

The world's largest radiology meetings, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) planned for Nov. 28 – Dec. 2, 2021 in Chicago, requires proof of vaccination to attend. The American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) also required vaccinations to attend its meeting in October.

RSNA主席Mary C. Mahoney医学博士在谈到RSNA疫苗的要求时说:“医疗专家之间有强烈的共识，即COVID-19疫苗可以有效降低由该疾病导致的严重疾病或死亡的几率。”“作为全球领先的医学影像论坛的召集人，我们希望为所有参与者提供尽可能安全的会议环境。”

Medical Societies Have Endorsed Requiring All Healthcare Workers Get Vaccinated

In late July, a coalition of 10 U.S.-based cardiovascular societies issued a statement in support of all healthcare systems requiring COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare and long-term care employees. The medical societies decided to take a stand after controversy arose after some health systems began requiring all employees to be vaccinated earlier this year.

这始于全国各地的几个较大的医疗保健系统。最引人注目的是美国退伍军人事务部(VA)。今年夏天，退伍军人事务部成为第一个通过此类疫苗授权的主要联邦机构。退伍军人事务部是根据今年夏天的一波新的德尔塔变种COVID病例做出这一决定的，绝大多数住院治疗是由未接种疫苗的人造成的。

“The cardiovascular community supports and encourages healthcare systems to require COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare and long-term care employees. The data is clear that the COVID-19 vaccine’s benefits far outweigh any risks and that it is our best tool to end this pandemic, but many, including many healthcare workers, have made the choice to not get vaccinated," read the joint statement sent out by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and other major cardiology societies in the U.S., including theAmerican College of Cardiology (ACC),American Society of Echocardiography (ASE),American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC,Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR),Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT),Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI),Heart Rhythm Society (HRS),Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS),Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), and theHeart Failure Society of America (HFSA).

"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. But the fight is not over," the statement continues. "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."

OSHA Also Issues Vaccination Requirement

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Nov. 4, also announced a new emergency temporary standard for mandatory COVID vaccinations. This rule applies to more than 84 million workers and is aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus on the job.

Under this standard, covered employers must develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose to either be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work.

The U.S. Department of Labor announcement states many of the people killed and infected by this virus over the past year and a half were workers whose primary exposures occurred at their jobs. OSHA estimates this rule will save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations due to workplace exposure to COVID-19.

The emergency temporary standard covers employers with 100 or more employees – firm or company-wide – and provides options for compliance. The rule also requires employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and to allow for paid leave to recover from any side effects.

Read the new OSHA standard