Northwestern Medicine requires COVID shots for workers
Northwestern Medicine is the latest Chicago-area health system to require that workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The announcement follows full FDA approval for Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine and mandates at 11 of the largest local health systems.
Northwestern workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31, the 11-hospital system said in a statement today, noting that nearly 80 percent of doctors and staff already got their shots. Employees can apply for medical and religious exemptions.
The decision to mandate is related to “the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant and its risk to those with underlying medical conditions and children under 12 who are not yet eligible to receive a vaccine,” the statement says.
Other Chicago-area hospitals mandating COVID shots for workers are:
- Loyola Medicine
- University of Chicago Medicine
- University of Illinois Hospital
- Rush University Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital
- Advocate Aurora Health
- Lurie Children’s Hospital
- Sinai Chicago
- Cook County Health
- NorthShore University HealthSystem
- Edward-Elmhurst Health
- Amita Health