PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is giving hospital and university employees and students a little bit more time to comply with vaccine mandates.
Acting Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said the deadline for health care workers and higher education employees and students to get the first dose of vaccine is now Oct. 15. That means the deadline to be fully vaccinated is moved back to Nov. 15.
“What we’re being told by health care institutions, particularly by colleges and universities, is that a little bit more time would be very helpful to them in getting people vaccinated,” said Bettigole.
“What we’ve seen in other places is that mandates are actually extremely effective in getting people vaccinated, so we do believe this is going to have effect and that the extra time would be helpful.”
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Behavioral and home health aides will get an additional week to comply. They must get the first dose by Oct. 22. Agencies told Bettigole that their workers tend to have lower vaccination rates, and employers are worried about losing staff members.
“My goal is to get everyone vaccinated and not leave our health care and higher education systems short-handed, especially when we know that folks are making an effort to get vaccinated,” she added.
“At the same time, we know these are settings where people are at risk from COVID and where an unvaccinated staff member could easily spread infection.”
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Overall, the city’s vaccine rate continues to climb, with 70% of adults being fully vaccinated. More than 85% of adults have received at least one dose.
New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have declined, but only slightly, in the last week. New cases are averaging 256 a day.