Aug 24, 2021 - Science

CVS Health to require COVID-19 vaccine for its employees

A vaccine check-in station at a CVS store

A worker stands behind a plastic protective barrier at a CVS pharmacy in Eastchester, N.Y. Photo: Gabriela Bhaskar/Bloomberg via Getty Images

CVS Health will require patient-facing employees and all corporate staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 31, the company announced on Monday.

Driving the news: Now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved by the FDA, it's likely more companies will impose vaccination requirements. The share of job postings on Indeed requiring vaccination has jumped 90% in just the last month, Axios' Erica Pandey reports.

Patient-facing roles that will require vaccination are nurses, care managers and pharmacists.

  • Pharmacists will have until Nov. 30 to be fully vaccinated "due to the size of this employee population." Other groups of employees may be added as well, according to the statement.

What they're saying: “From the start of the pandemic, our decision-making process has been driven by health, safety and science," said CVS Health president and CEO Karen Lynch.

  • "While the vast majority of our employees have chosen to be vaccinated, this decision is in direct response to the dramatic rise in cases among the unvaccinated,” said Lynch.
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