Minnesota-based Mayor Clinic fired about 700 employees for not getting vaccinated within the set deadline of January 3, 2022. Of course, those who had sought exemptions on religious or medical grounds were not affected.
However, those terminated will be allowed to apply for roles at Mayo Clinic in the future, provided they get their jabs.
The Hospital which has a 73,000-strong workforce, maintains that it had to let go of one per cent of its staff for the safety of its patients, staff members, visitors, and the community in general. It also maintained that most of the requests for exemptions were given approval.
Many feel the termination of the employees is unethical and that the Hospital was trying to achieve an ‘ideal’ 100 per cent vaccination scenario, which is unrealistic. Also, the termination comes at a time when there is a dearth of healthcare workers in the country.
However, the non-profit American chain of health centres maintains that it is its responsibility to ensure that people remain safe and protected from complications, for which vaccination is a must. The Mayo health system reinterates that it is only trying to put its patients first. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the US population is still against vaccines.
Mayo Clinic chain has large campuses in Rochester in Minnesota, Scottsdale in Phoenix, Arizona and Jacksonville, Florida, in addition to various smaller units in other states of the US.
