Representatives from groups providing home health and other services sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Mills asking for a 45-day extension of the Oct. 1 deadline.
Leaders of five organizations that represent home health agencies and other health care-related workforces have asked Gov. Janet Mills to delay implementing her vaccination mandate, which takes effect Oct. 1.
The organizations said in a letter Thursday that they support the mandate, but there simply isn’t enough time for unvaccinated workers to get their shots or, alternatively, to find replacement workers for those who might leave.
…Before COVID, Maine’s essential support workforce was running on fumes. A year and a half into COVID, underpaid, discouraged, and exhausted workers are leaving this workforce for higher paying, less stressful jobs,” they wrote. “As soon as the vaccine mandate was announced, both unvaccinated and vaccinated workers indicated their intent to leave facility-based care jobs. They’ve had enough. We expect nursing homes, group homes and residential care facilities to close due to the mandate. This will displace hundreds of older people and people with intellectual disabilities and behavioral health challenges. Where will they go?”