Kaiser Permanente Suspends Thousands of Unvaxxed Employees

Health care provider Kaiser Permanente on Tuesday announced it has suspended nearly 5,000 employees, about 2% of its U.S. staff, who have not been vaccinated for COVID-19 or received an exemption.

The employees have been placed on paid leave as of Oct. 1, and have until Dec. 1 to comply with the company's vaccine mandate and return to work.

According to Kaiser's statement, the vaccination rate was 78% on Aug. 2 when the mandate was announced, and is now at 92%. The other 6% of employees presumably obtained an exemption.

"We will continue to work with this group of employees to allay concerns and educate them about the vaccines, their benefits, and risks," Kaiser said of those who still have not received the vaccine.

Kaiser has 216,000 employees and 23,000 physicians in the United States, according to the statement.

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