Employees of UF Health, part of the University of Florida, received word on Dec. 13 that the requirement for all faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 4 has been suspended. Any of the 30,000 employees who haven’t yet submitted proof of vaccination, or received approval for a medical or religious exemption to the vaccination mandate, will no longer have to request exemptions in order to opt-out of the vaccine, according to an email from UF Health president David R. Nelson. With the policy change, the health care giant joins a growing number of hospital networks backing down on vaccinate-or-terminate policies, at a time when hospitals around the country are reporting critical staffing shortages. And that’s a relief to employees, who were facing Christmas wondering whether they would still have jobs in January. Though the possibility of losing health insurance for her family of six loomed, …