NC House republicans send letter to hospital CEOs about vaccine mandate

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Fifty-five NC House Republican lawmakers sent a letter to health care system CEOs in response to the recent vaccine mandates at many hospitals, including Vidant Health, urging them to reconsider mandatory vaccines.

Some hospitals across North Carolina have instituted a vaccine mandate for all employees, saying if the employee doesn’t get the vaccine, they could lose their job.

House republicans sent a letter to hospital CEOs telling them that requiring employees to get the vaccine is “Unwise and unfair to the brave healthcare professionals who have sacrificed so much over the past year and a half on the frontlines of the pandemic.”

Part of the letter also states, “We recognize the importance of vaccines and respect the rights of private employers, we strongly encourage you to reexamine this requirement with greater input from employees and flexibility for those who have legitimate objections.”

Some of those objections include women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and those with preexisting conditions or religious objections.

Democratic lawmakers think the letter is disingenuous.

Republicans say vaccinations should not be mandated, but rather someone’s choice, while democrats say as a health care provider, getting the vaccine is to protect yourself and others.

The Vidant Health vaccination policy applies to all of Vidant’s hospitals and the only exemptions would be for medical or religious reasons.

WITN also reached out to democratic senator Don Davis about the letter, who said there needs to be continued encouragement for people to get the vaccine and take those necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

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