The Latest – Monday, Aug. 23:
8:30 p.m.
In a statement to FOX40, Kaiser Permanente said, from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, employees who are not fully vaccinated or have not received an exemption will be placed on unpaid administrative leave for a maximum of 60 days. If they do not receive an exemption or get vaccinated, the employee will no longer be “eligible to continue employment and will be terminated” on Dec. 1.
Original Story Below:
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (KTXL) — For the second time this month, nurses and other healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente in Roseville protested against coronavirus vaccine mandates.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine didn’t seem to make any difference among the folks protesting on the street corner in front of Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center Monday.
Nurses and emergency room technicians were among the protesters and those who spoke with FOX40 said opposing California’s and their employer’s vaccine mandate is about personal choice when it comes to medical interventions.
“We as health care workers and citizens are educated, intelligent people capable of making our own health decisions,” said one nurse protestor. “Nurses are taught in nursing school the nursing code of ethics which includes autonomy, the obligation to respect individual decision making whether we agree with it or not.”
Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center declined to comment about Monday’s protest on camera and sent FOX40 almost exactly the same statement it did back on Aug. 9:
Kaiser Permanente respects the rights of all people to peacefully express their views. We strongly believe in the science and evidence supporting COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy.
Kaiser Permanente made the decision to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for employees and physicians because we know that a fully vaccinated workforce is the most effective path to protecting our people, our patients, and the communities we serve. The State of California followed on Aug. 5 with a statewide vaccination mandate for all health care workers.
As the country’s largest integrated care delivery system, we feel it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help end this pandemic, particularly in light of the dramatic increase in cases from the highly infectious and contagious Delta variant. Widespread vaccination is our best hope of eradicating the virus and helping communities stay safe.
We encourage everyone to play a role in ending the pandemic by getting the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
Kaiser Permanente
UC Davis Health recently released the results of a study it did involving vaccinations and COVID-19 case rates among its employees.
Researchers found that prior to being immunized, infection rates among workers were at 3.2%. Four weeks after shots began, researchers discovered those numbers dropped to 0.38%
Kaiser Permanente officials did not say if they’ve conducted a similar study.
