Hundreds of protesters marched through Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday to protest a vaccination mandate for all employees from one of the city’s largest healthcare networks.
Those demonstrating against Atrium Health took to the streets and marched from Freedom Park to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center. March participants carried signs and placards maligning the company’s mandate.
Atrium Health recently announced that due to the highly transmissible delta variant, all employees must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Oct. 31 or else risk termination. Employees with a valid religious or medical exemption will not be required to receive the vaccine and can continue working as usual.
DEMOCRATS DEMAND MASKS AND VACCINES AS CONFIDENCE PLUMMETS
“With the new and more contagious variants now causing hospitalizations to rise across our region, we are requiring teammates to be vaccinated against the virus — to avoid catching or spreading it to others in our hospitals or other clinical environments,” Atrium senior strategist Kate Gaier wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
“Most doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are drawn to their profession because they want to help and care for other people — specifically to help them get and stay well and live longer, healthier lives,” Gaier continued. “The new COVID-19 vaccine requirement is designed to do exactly that, since the science shows that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and continue to save countless lives.”
HAPPENING NOW: Hundreds are marching to Atrium Health to protest the healthcare system’s new policy that will require all employees to be vaccinated. More » https://t.co/Nxm9iJbSd6 pic.twitter.com/BBvQq4REC9
— WBTV News (@WBTV_News) August 1, 2021
David Callaway, the director of operational and disaster medicine for Atrium Health, said that over 47,000 Atrium employees are already vaccinated, which is approximately 67% of the staff.
Atrium Health has stated that it values its employees making their opinions known, though it has not announced any plans to walk back the mandate.
“We greatly value all of our teammates who have shown such dedication to our patients, their loved ones, and to each other during the pandemic, and we respect the rights of those who have chosen to have their voices heard in a peaceful and civil manner,” Gaier told the Washington Examiner. “Open communication is something we embrace at Atrium Health. We encourage our teammates to share any concerns they may have directly with their leaders if they have questions about our vaccination requirement.”
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North Carolina has seen more than 1 million cases of COVID-19 to date, with 13,635 deaths attributed to the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. Nearly 5 million people, or 48.01%, statewide are fully vaccinated, the tracker says.
