Several hundred health care workers across Virginia state have either lost their jobs or been suspended because they are refusing to comply with mandates to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, in August joined other states including California, New York and North Carolina, in issuing a directive mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for most of Virginia’s state workers—a move that applied to more than 120,000 executive branch employees. Two further vaccine mandate deadlines for major hospital systems in the state, including Sentara and UVA Health, have been set for Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 respectively. “Anyone who is unvaccinated on Nov. 1 will face disciplinary action, including the possibility of termination,” a UVA Health news release said. “This timeline gives employees eight weeks to become fully vaccinated now that the FDA has approved at least one of the vaccines,” Sentara said. According to the Washington Post, rural areas …