The Australian state of Tasmania has announced that 99 percent of its healthcare workforce has complied with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate, leaving 170 to be stood aside, according to Jeremy Rockliff, the minister for health. The state government’s mandate meant health employees had to receive one dose of the vaccine by Oct. 31 unless they had a medical exemption. According to Rockliff, 15,970 employees received the vaccination or displayed the appropriate exemption. “I would like to thank each and every one of these people for making sure they have done what they can to help keep Tasmanians—including some of the most vulnerable—as safe as they can be against COVID-19,” he said in a press release on Oct. 31. “It is extremely important that in our health settings, we do all we can to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. A vaccinated health workforce is a key part of that,” he added. “For …