CLEVELAND — When a number of hospital systems have announced a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employees, two of northeast Ohio’s largest hospital systems waited. Following an announcement by President Joe Biden, employees at the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals could soon be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals have not required staff to get COVID-19 vaccinations

  • President Joe Biden announced Thursday plans for the administration to require 17 million workers in the health care field to become fully vaccinated

  • A number of Ohio-based hospitals announced last month that staff will soon be required to be fully vaccinated

  • MetroHealth previously announced staff would be required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 30

On Thursday, Biden announced plans to require health care workers nationwide to become vaccinated against COVID-19. He also announced that workers for companies with 100 employees or more would be required to either seek weekly COVID-19 testing or become vaccinated. 

Getting tested weekly for COVID-19 instead of vaccinated is not an option for health care workers, according to the Biden administration. 

The Biden administration has not announced a vaccine mandate will be required, nor has the administration announced what will happen to non-vaccinated health care workers. 

For now, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals officials say they are in a wait-and-see mode. 

According to state data, Cleveland Clinic is the largest employer in the state of Ohio with 52,800 employees based in the state as of 2020. 

"The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are the best way to protect individuals from severe illness or death from the virus,” the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement. We are awaiting more information and plan to comply with federal requirements. 

“Nearly 80% of our caregivers have already received their COVID-19 vaccine."  

Likewise, the decision to enforce COVID-19 vaccinations could impact thousands of workers at University Hospitals. The state said UH is the seventh-largest employer in the state with 30,650 employees, as of 2020.

“As we’ve maintained, we believe that the vaccines are safe, effective and recommended. We believe in the science because we participated in developing the vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death,” University Hospitals said in a statement. “Until we have a chance to review the rules the President referenced in his address (on Thursday), we can’t comment on the specific requirements, but believe that getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways people can protect themselves, the people they care about, and their communities from COVID-19.”

In August, the Ohio Hospital Association recommended networks to require COVID-19 vaccinations among staff. A number of hospital systems in Ohio, including Metro Health, which is based in northeast Ohio, announced vaccine requirements last month. Metro Health employees have until Oct. 30 to become fully vaccinated or face disciplinary action. 

“The science and the safety behind the vaccines are very encouraging and Ohio hospitals have engaged in education campaigns —both internal and external — demonstrating the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines,” said OHA president Mike Abrams in August. “Hospital employee and staff vaccination against COVID-19 will help ensure the long-term ability of our health care system to respond to the pandemic and the continuation of vital health care services.”

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