Workers face mounting pressure to get their shots — or get fired
CBSN
As many companies impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates, employees who refuse to get jabbed are getting the ax. Employers in the health care and aviation industries this week dismissed hundreds of workers who declined to get inoculated.
Novant Health, a North Carolina hospital system with more than 35,000 employees, this week fired 175 unvaccinated workers who failed to comply with its vaccination requirements. Compliance for the company means being fully vaccinated or qualifying for a medical or religious exemption that allows employees to test weekly and wear an N95 mask as well as eye protection while on the job, according to Novant.
By early last week, Novant had suspended without pay roughly 375 employees who it determined violated its policy and given them five days to comply or else be terminated. Over the following week, an additional 200 Novant employees rolled up their sleeves, according to the company.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.