Delaware Advances COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements For Health Care And State Employees

On August 12, Delaware Governor John Carney ordered all state employees and health care workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 on or before September 30 or submit to regular COVID-19 testing.¹ Additionally, he encouraged private businesses to impose similar requirements upon their employees and emphasized that many Delaware companies have already acted to do so.² While not an official Executive Order, the Governor’s office indicated that regulations enforcing the requirements will be posted shortly. The order affects 14,000 employees of Delaware agencies, but does not pertain to public school employees, who are administered by the state’s 19 school districts, none of which have yet required vaccination.³

While well over 70% of Delaware adults have been vaccinated with at least one dose, COVID-19 hospitalizations have begun to rise again largely due to the Delta variant, which has proved more transmissible than other forms of the virus.⁴ Approximately 99% of new Delaware cases have occurred in unvaccinated Delawareans.⁵ “There’s no better way to protect our most vulnerable neighbors from this virus than getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” Governor Carney said. “If you haven’t gotten your COVID-19 vaccine yet, consider it. Vaccination is how we’ll make sure our communities get healthier and continue to build a great future in our state.” ⁶

Three Delaware health systems, ChristianaCare, St. Francis Hospital, and Nemours have mandated that their employees receive the vaccine or face termination.⁷ Bayhealth, Beebe Healthcare, and TidalHealth have not implemented vaccine mandates to date. ⁸

The complete list of health care facilities covered by the new Delaware requirements are as follows:

Long Term Care Facilities:

Nursing homes
Assisted-living facilities
Intermediate-care facility for persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities
Neighborhood homes
Group homes for persons with serious and persistent mental illness
Group homes for persons with HIV/AIDS
Family care homes
Rest residential facilities
Intensive behavioral support and educational residences

Acute and Outpatient Providers: