UAB pauses vaccine requirement as White House COVID-19 shots mandate looms

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has ended its policy of requiring COVID-19 vaccine shots for hospital workers. The change comes as a federal mandate for health care workers appears on the way. UAB Health in August announced employees and others working in its hospitals and clinics must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-November. That changed in the face of the coming federal mandate. President Joe Biden this month announced a sweeping new vaccination push. The expansive rules mandate workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated. Alabama is joining two dozen other Republican States in vowing to sue over the White House mandate that businesses require workers to get their shots.