New Vaccine Requirement For Select CMS-Participating Facilities

On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ("CMS") released a new rule requiring certain healthcare facilities to implement policies requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. It does not matter if a staff member does not perform patient treatment services, they must still be vaccinated if an employee of an applicable facility.

Particularly, staff at these facilities should be given at least the first dose of an accepted vaccine within 30 days of November 5, 2021. Phase 2 will require staff to have their second dose within 60 days of November 5, 2021. Acceptable vaccines include, and at this time are limited to, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.