Workers who are charged with verifying that health care facilities are complying with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate don’t have to be vaccinated themselves, the government has said.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which imposed the mandate, said in January memorandum that workers who have not received a vaccine “should not participate” in surveys of the health care facilities. The surveys include checking whether the facilities are obeying the mandate.
But the agency also said that organizations that accredit the surveyors, and state agencies, were responsible for the vaccination status of surveyors.
“Therefore, certified providers and suppliers are not permitted to ask surveyors for proof of their vaccination status as a precondition for entry,” the administration said….