Medical Practice Mandates Physicians, Staff Get COVID Vaccine

TARRYTOWN, NY — A medical practice with offices throughout the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York will require its physicians, staff and employees to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus.

ENT and Allergy Associates LLP announced Tuesday that beginning Sept. 7 its employees and doctors will be required to be fully vaccinated against the virus.

The medical practice's board determined that, with the virus continuing to impact the country, along with the emergence of the delta variant, mandatory vaccinations were the best way to keep employees and patients protected against ongoing and future outbreaks.

Having employees and physicians fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will provide a safe environment for everyone who walks through the doors of the practice, the board said.

ENT CEO Bob Glazer said the board and the executive team reviewed recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York and New Jersey departments of health, its own OSHA Advisory Committee and other relevant sources.

"COVID-19 is something we have taken extremely seriously throughout the pandemic, and this decision is not one that we reached lightly," he said.

Glazer said they were adopting the policy to "safeguard the health of our employees and their families, our patients and visitors, and the community at large from infectious diseases whose impact and spread can be reduced by vaccinations."

As health care professionals in the fields of otolaryngology — ear, nose and throat — and allergy/immunology, ENT's physicians and staff are at an increased risk of being exposed to and contracting the virus, a spokesperson said.

ENT President Robert Green said they trust the science, and the vaccines have been researched, tested and proven effective.

"We want every employee to be able to walk into work knowing that we've done everything we can to promote and foster a safe and healthy working environment," he said. "Mandatory vaccines are a large part of that."

ENT and Allergy Associates LLP has more than 220 physicians in more than 40 office locations in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as New York City and northern and central New Jersey.

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