Two of Colorado’s largest health systems — UCHealth and Denver Health — will require employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by the fall, citing the growing spread of the more contagious delta variant and a rise in hospitalizations.
UCHealth, which had said earlier this summer that it would at some point issue a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, announced Wednesday that it will require medical staff, trainees, volunteers, medical students and others who work at the health system’s facilities to get immunized by Oct. 1.
Denver Health employees will have to get vaccinated by Nov. 1.
So far, almost 85% of the 26,000 employees at UCHealth are immunized against the coronavirus, according to a news release.
The vaccine mandates come as hospitals across the nation are requiring the shots in an effort to immunize more employees. President Joe Biden is also expected to announce a similar mandate for civilian federal workers, The New York Times reported.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
