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WINSTON-SALEM — Novant Health has released the following update related to its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program for employees:

Today, 98.6% of more than 35,000 team members are compliant with Novant Health’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program. Team members are considered compliant if they have received the following: the single dose Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine, a first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine — or if they applied for, and were granted, a medical or religious exemption. Team members who have started a two-dose vaccine series will now have until Oct. 15 to get their second dose and remain in compliance.

Novant Health team members who have been granted a medical or religious exemption are required to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, wear N95 respirators masks or other appropriate PPE, and eye-wear protection while working on Novant Health premises. These added safety measures are in place to ensure patient and team member safety and preserve staffing levels.

Beginning this week, approximately 375 team members — across 15 hospitals, 800 clinics and hundreds of outpatient facilities — have been confirmed to be non-compliant and are not able to report to work. They will have an opportunity to comply over a five day, unpaid suspension period. If a team member remains non-compliant after this suspension period, he or she will have their employment with Novant Health terminated.