{"id":29681,"date":"2022-03-22T16:18:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T16:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/22\/many-va-workers-remain-unvaccinated-against-covid-19-but-few-have-been-fired\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:35:43","slug":"many-va-workers-remain-unvaccinated-against-covid-19-but-few-have-been-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2022\/03\/22\/many-va-workers-remain-unvaccinated-against-covid-19-but-few-have-been-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"Many VA workers remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, but few have been fired"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four months after the deadline for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/coronavirus\/2022\/03\/04\/two-years-of-covid-for-va-609000-cases-21000-deaths\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Affairs workers<\/a> to be vaccinated against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\">coronavirus<\/a>, about 40,000 staffers remain unvaccinated but only a few have been fired for refusal, department officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new figures come as Republican lawmakers are renewing their calls to drop the vaccine mandate and allow VA employees to continue to work without penalty even if they ignore the department\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of this week, roughly 330,000 workers (89 percent) in the Veterans Health Administration are vaccinated, according to data released by department officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/coronavirus\/2022\/03\/04\/two-years-of-covid-for-va-609000-cases-21000-deaths\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21054771109087.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Two years of COVID for VA: 609,000 cases, 21,000 deaths<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Department officials expect to be monitoring virus cases indefinitely, but are hopeful it will eventually become more of a nuisance than public health threat.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most department health workers were ordered to receive the vaccine regimen (either the two-shot series or the single-shot option) by Oct. 8, with the rest of the department workforce given an extra month and a half (Nov. 22) to meet the mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last fall, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said the vaccine requirement was needed to ensure the safety of staff and patients at department buildings. He also warned that employees who did not meet the deadline could face punishment, including dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite those threats, department officials said that as of Tuesday, \u201cless than a handful of VHA employees have been removed due to noncompliance with the vaccine requirement or noncompliance with safety protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials would not release the specific number of firings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the roughly 40,000 workers who are not vaccinated, almost 37,000 have requested exemptions for medical or religious reasons. Officials said they are still processing \u201crequests for reasonable accommodation\u201d without endangering patient safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McDonough has said that while individuals who request religious exemptions will not have the sincerity of their beliefs questioned, they may be reassigned to other positions that do not require direct interaction with veterans or other staffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, during a House Veterans\u2019 Affairs hearing on VA workforce issues, multiple Republican members questioned the wisdom of those moves, saying that the department can\u2019t afford to lose qualified employees to unneeded mandates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStaffing shortages will only make wait times longer, and that could have life or death consequences for veterans,\u201d said committee ranking member Mike Bost, R-Ill., during the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith the employment market as tight as it is, the last thing we should be doing is interfering with their employees\u2019 personal health decisions, much less firing anyone for exercising their health or religious freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/02\/23\/air-force-officers-sue-over-religious-exemption-denials\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21179541431512.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force officers sue over religious exemption denials<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A dozen Air Force officers have filed a lawsuit against the federal government after the military denied their religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other members questioned whether the mandate could scare off potential recruits to the department. VA officials said they have not seen any indication of that so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we are trying to do is make sure that we have a safe environment for the veterans,\u201d said Gina Grosso, VA\u2019s assistant secretary for human resources operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd so we are working hard to find a place where [unvaccinated employees] can work. Our sincere desire is not to have to lose anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least 21,400 patients connected to VA and 255 VA staffers have died from illnesses linked to COVID-19 in the past two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Department officials say only a handful of employees have been dismissed for refusing the vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-29681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HBWIMOQEOVBQTB6UGMTEZH5QKQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/coronavirus\/2022\/03\/22\/many-va-workers-remain-unvaccinated-against-covid-19-but-few-have-been-fired\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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