SMH employees must be vaccinated by the end of the winter season

On Jan. 13, The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job. But the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.

According to Sheridan Memorial Hospital Marketing Manager Alan Dubberley, the court lifted the stay of the mandate for those facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

That means SMH employees will need to be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption by March 15, Dubberley said in an email. Dubberley provided a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of “fully vaccinated”. That can be accessed by clicking here. 

As of Jan. 21, Sheridan County has experienced 5,334 lab confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic, adding 75 new cases in the last 24 hours, according COVID-19 Public Information Officer Jennifer Graves. 

There are 393 active cases of the virus in the Sheridan County community. Ten residents are hospitalized as a result of the virus that has caused the deaths of 63 people in Sheridan County.