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GOP lawmakers push to protect workers who decline COVID vaccines
RICHMOND, Va. – Lawmakers narrowly passed a bill this month that would allow people fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine to receive unemployment benefits if no other misconduct took place. The measure advanced from the House of Delegates on a 51-48 party line vote and was assigned to a Senate committee on Feb. 10. The […]
Seeking a cure
Ashley Apple has advice for those hoping to understand the burden nurses face as COVID-19 surges once again while hospitals suffer staff shortages. “Think of the worst day you’ve ever had at work. Then add in poor staffing and multiple human deaths. Then repeat it every day for 18 months,” she says. “That’s sort of […]
Moderna, J&J booster shots now available in Va.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 booster shots are now available in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health announced Friday. Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccination liaison, said in a statement that pharmacies, doctors’ offices, hospitals and other providers are prepared for the rollout of the booster shots, which has been in the works for […]
Hampton Roads State of the Region report shows slow recovery
The Hampton Roads region is slowly recovering from pandemic-spurred economic distress but has lost a large chunk of its workforce, according to Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis & Policy’s 2021 State of the Region Report released Tuesday. Hampton Roads’ labor force and individual employment levels peaked in February 2020, only to be […]
Va. rolls out digital proof for vaccinations
The Virginia Department of Health has started adding scannable QR codes to COVID-19 vaccination records, digitizing the proof-of-vaccination process, the state announced Thursday. VDH said QR codes available now cannot be altered or forged, and health information is available from the codes only if and when a person chooses to share it. Businesses or organizations […]
Valley Health tells workers to get vaccinated
Nicole Clark wants the nurses she supervises to do everything they can to keep themselves, their patients and co-workers safe from COVID-19. That means wearing personal protective equipment, social distancing, frequent hand washing — and getting vaccinated against the disease. Valley Health, a nonprofit health system that includes Winchester Medical Center and five other hospitals, […]
Caution ahead
This year was expected to be a rough one for employers, following predictions of a coming tidal wave of costly employee lawsuits and labor complaints powered by the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s racial justice protests. So far, though, that onslaught of litigation hasn’t materialized. Why not? Partly because the pandemic itself closed courts for […]
More Va. health systems announce vaccine mandates
Major hospital systems in Hampton Roads and Central Virginia announced Wednesday that they will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Riverside Health System and Sentara Healthcare jointly announced the requirement and began notifying employees Wednesday morning tha[...]
Va. is ready to deploy COVID vaccine booster doses
As COVID cases are on the rise again, driven by the delta variant of the coronavirus, the Virginia Department of Health has begun administering third COVID-19 vaccine doses to immunocompromised people and is ready to expand third-dose booster vaccinations to more Virginia residents on Sept. 20, the target date set by the federal government, state […]
Richmond mandates vaccinations for city employees
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Wednesday that all city employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, becoming the first Virginia locality to mandate vaccination. Fairfax County has taken steps in recent weeks toward a vaccination mandate for its 12,000 employees, but the county executive must make the final decision. Gov. Ralph Northam has […]
Northam: Many restrictions likely to be lifted June 15
Virginia will relax most COVID-19 mitigation measures by June 15 if vaccination numbers continue to increase and spread of the virus continues to decrease, Gov. Ralph Northam said Thursday, but lifting the face mask mandate will likely take longer. “We will continue to evaluate our mask guidance,” the governor added, but social distancing requirements and […]
Reston-based Maximus gets $951M contract for national COVID hotline
Reston-based government services company Maximus has received a potential $951 million contract to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 national surge support and vaccine assistance hotline. In the early months of the pandemic, Maximus staffed a 500-person CDC call center to respond to call and emails from health care providers and the […]
