COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements

• By: Maureen Carland
• On: 06/14/2023 13:14:27
• In: COVID-19

Just a friendly reminder, both the national and state COVID-19 vaccine requirements are currently still in effect. In October 2021, the state of Maine implemented a rule mandating COVID-19 vaccination for specific healthcare personnel. Starting in January 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began enforcing federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
 
As vaccination efforts have made significant progress and a considerable portion of the population, including healthcare workers, have already received their vaccinations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that the Health Care Provider Vaccine Mandate will be coming to an end soon. This announcement as well as the rule posting in the federal register have occurred, and it is expected to go into effect around the 5^th of August 2023.
 
Please note that this change does not affect the State of Maine's vaccine requirement. However, according to a recent Bangor Daily News article, the Mills administration is currently reviewing the evidence supporting the rule and may propose changes at a later time. There is currently no specific timeline for these potential changes, as stated by Jackie Farwell, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services.
 
Staff contact: mcarland@mehca.org