Vanderbilt University Medical Center mandates COVID-19 vaccines for leadership

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will require employees with leadership roles to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Employees were alerted to the mandate via an employee newsletter on July 15, VUMC spokesman John Howser confirmed in an email to The Tennessean.

All VUMC leaders are required to get the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or provide a medical or religious exemption by Aug. 15. They must be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption by Sept. 15. 

"The deadline for requiring all VUMC employees to be vaccinated or have an approved exemption is under consideration and will be communicated at a later date," Howser said. 

The medical center is requiring VUMC leaders to be vaccinated to show an "overall commitment to promoting vaccination."

"For this reason, and before requiring all VUMC employees to be vaccinated, we will first require that VUMC leaders be fully vaccinated," a VUMC spokesman stated in an email.

In May, Vanderbilt University announced it would require students to receive the vaccine for the 2021-2022 school year. All faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows employed by the university are also required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 for the upcoming school year.

Tennessee recently passed a law barring public employers and schools from requiring the vaccine. A move to prohibit private employers and health providers from requiring the shot was unsuccessful. However, both must consider religious and medical exemptions. 

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The VUMC announcement comes amid a nationwide call from doctors and health care leaders to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all health workers. 

Vaccine mandates have already sparked debates in the United States. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit out of Houston where hospital workers challenged a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. 

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The lawsuit was filed by 117 workers and argued the COVID-19 vaccine was experimental and dangerous. The lawsuit also claimed federal law prohibits employees from being required to get vaccinated without full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the vaccines. 

The judge dismissed both arguments. He explained that law does not apply to private employers and deemed the argument that the vaccine is experimental as false and irrelevant. 

USA Today contributed to this report.

Find reporter Rachel Wegner at rawegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.