The Republican governors of West Virginia and Virginia wrote to the Biden administration asking to get out of its healthcare worker vaccine mandate due to concerns over staffing shortages.
Governors Jim Justice of West Virginia and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday asking for a waiver from the mandate. The letter comes a few weeks after the Supreme Court upheld the controversial mandate and overturned a lower court’s ruling striking down the mandate in 25 states.
“We are concerned about the long-term impact on quality of care if thousands of healthcare professionals are no longer allowed to work because of the vaccine requirement,” the letter said.
The governors are asking for a limited waiver to the vaccine mandate that calls for all healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated.
CMS said last month that facilities in the 25 states affected by the lower court’s ruling have until March 15 to fully vaccinate staff. Another 24 states that weren’t affected by the stay have until Feb. 28.
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Texas is under a similar preliminary injunction that was not immediately lifted by the Supreme Court.
West Virginia is affected by the March 15 deadline, and Virginia the Feb. 28 deadline. The states are asking for a limited waiver to the mandate.
“This relief could take multiple forms, including broader conscience exemptions, flexibility on enforcement, or simply a six-month delay of the rule,” the letter said. “Our health teams are on standby to define the terms of this waiver to protect our most vulnerable healthcare systems and facilities from a staffing breakdown.”
The governors say that rural areas are especially in danger of staffing shortages exacerbated by the mandate.
“The impact in Southwest Virginia and throughout West Virginia will be particularly acute,” the letter said. “In these rural areas, access to lifesaving care could be threatened and we may displace a generation of healthcare professionals in a region already battling health disparities.”
Vaccine hesitancy has been particularly acute in rural areas, a survey released late last year from the Chartis Group said. The survey found that 75% of respondents reported their facility doesn’t have a mandate.
A CMS spokesperson told Fierce Healthcare that it has received the letter but declined to comment further.