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Hospital Workers Officially Fired After Refusing To Get COVID-19 Vaccine

(Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Bradley Devlin General Assignment & Analysis Reporter
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More than 150 hospital employees in Houston have been fired or resigned over their unwillingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to The Associated Press.

Previously, almost 200 workers were suspended for two weeks by the Houston Methodist hospital system were suspended for not getting vaccinated by the June 7 deadline set by the hospital system’s executives. In total, 153 hospital employees either resigned during their suspensions, or were fired Tuesday after a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by employees over the vaccine requirement, The AP reported.

In April, Houston Methodist President Dr. Marc Boom sent an email which mandated that hospital employees must be at least partially vaccinated by June 7, with exemptions for religious or medical reasons, or face possible termination. With this action, Houston Methodist became the first major hospital system in the U.S. to require the COVID-19 vaccine for its employees.

Of the Houston Methodist hospital system’s 25,000 employees, 99% were able to get at least the first dose of
a COVID-19 vaccine by June 7. Those who failed to comply were suspended the day of the deadline.

Nearly 120 Houston Methodist hospital employees who did not wish to comply to the vaccine requirement filed a lawsuit against the hospital system. In the lawsuit, the employees claimed that David Bernard, the CEO of Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital, told employees, “100% vaccination is more important than your individual freedom. Everyone of you is replaceable. If you don’t like what your doing you can leave and we will replace your spot.”

“Methodist Hospital is forcing its employees to be human ‘guinea pigs’ as a condition for continued employment.” the suit, which was later dismissed by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, claimed. (RELATED: Nearly 200 Hospital Workers Will Be Fired In Houston If They Don’t Get Vaccinated)

The suit also made comparisons between the vaccine requirement and the Holocaust, which Hughes called “reprehensible,” while calling into doubt the hospital employees’ claim that the vaccine was unsafe, the AP noted.