得克萨斯州的一名法官驳回了针对休斯顿卫理公会医院的诉讼，该医院的政策要求所有员工都必须接种新冠肺炎疫苗，否则将面临停职。
据休斯顿卫理公会称，该医院为其26000名员工接种冠状病毒疫苗设定了6月7日的最后期限，以便其设施能够安全免受病毒感染，并为患者提供最佳保护。
然而，在5月底提起的诉讼中，包括护士珍妮弗·布里吉斯(Jennifer Bridges)在内的117名员工辩称，医院“非法要求其员工注射实验性疫苗作为就业条件”。
在周六晚上发布的长达五页的判决中，美国地方法官林恩·休斯驳回了原告关于新冠肺炎疫苗不安全的投诉。
“这不是胁迫。卫理公会试图在不给他们新冠肺炎病毒的情况下拯救他们的生命。休斯写道:“这是为了让工作人员、病人及其家人更安全而做出的选择。”。
布兰登·贝尔/盖蒂影像公司
医务人员和行人穿过休斯顿卫理公会医院外的十字路口
法官补充说，德克萨斯州法律只保护拒绝实施非法行为的员工免受非法解雇。
休斯写道:“布里奇斯没有具体说明她拒绝实施什么违法行为，但在投诉的新闻稿中，她说她拒绝成为‘人类实验品’。”。"接受新冠肺炎疫苗并不违法."
代表原告的律师贾里德·伍德菲尔在一份声明中告诉美国广播公司新闻，他计划对这一决定提出上诉。伍德菲尔(Woodfill)也代表客户对德克萨斯州的口罩授权和封锁提起诉讼，他表示，该案“只是一场更大战争中的一场战斗，这场战争旨在保护员工的权利，使他们免受作为就业条件被迫参与疫苗试验的影响。”
“我的所有客户继续致力于打击这一不公正的政策，”他在声明中说。
据休斯顿卫理公会的发言人说，在6月最后期限结束时，24，947名医院员工(96%)接种了疫苗。有178名员工被停职这位女发言人周日告诉美国广播公司新闻，由于没有及时注射疫苗，她们必须在6月21日之前注射一针疫苗。
医院告诉美国广播公司新闻，截至6月11日，至少有27名被停职的员工打了第一针。
“我们的员工和医生为我们的患者做出决定，他们始终是我们所做一切的中心。休斯顿卫理公会主席兼首席执行官马克·布姆博士在一份声明中说:“他们已经履行了作为医疗保健工作者的神圣义务，我们不能要求一个更敬业、更有爱心和更有才华的团队。”
布兰登·贝尔/盖蒂影像公司
2021年6月9日，德克萨斯州休斯顿，休斯顿卫理公会医院的外部。
德克萨斯大学法学院教授伊丽莎白·塞珀(Elizabeth Sepper)告诉美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)，医院的授权有着无懈可击的法律依据，因为疫苗的紧急使用授权状态不足以成为员工退出的理由。
她补充说，医院在让员工接种疫苗方面的高成功率可能会促使其他卫生组织发布命令，除非他们被州和地方命令禁止。
“另一个显而易见的地方是学校和大学，但是州长[格雷格]艾伯特的命令这就禁止学校强制要求接种疫苗，使这一工具失效，”赛珀告诉美国广播公司新闻。
医生和卫生专家表示，新冠肺炎疫苗接种率导致过去两个月病例、住院和死亡人数大幅下降。截至周日，超过1.431亿美国人，约占总人口的43.1%，已经完全接种疫苗疾病控制和预防中心。
据报道，截至周日，休斯顿已有170万居民接种了疫苗哈里斯县新冠肺炎数据中心。
任何需要帮助安排免费疫苗预约的人都可以登录vaccines.gov。
Judge tosses lawsuit against Houston hospital over staff vaccine mandate
A Texas judge dismissed a lawsuit against Houston Methodist Hospital over its policy that mandated all staff needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face suspension.
The hospital set a deadline for June 7 for its 26,000 employees to get a coronavirus vaccine so that its facilities can be safe from the virus and provide patients with the best protection, according to Houston Methodist.
However, 117 employees, including nurse Jennifer Bridges, contended that the hospital was "illegally requiring its employees to be injected with an experimental vaccine as a condition of employment," in the suit filed at the end of May.
In her five-page decision issued Saturday night, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes rejected the plaintiffs' complaint that the COVID-19 vaccines were unsafe.
"This is not coercion. Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus. It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer," Hughes wrote.
The judge added that Texas law only protects employees from wrongful termination if they refuse to commit an illegal act.
"Bridges does not specify what illegal act she has refused to perform, but in the press release style of the complaint, she said she refuses to be a 'human guinea pig,'" Hughes wrote. "Receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is not an illegal act."
Jared Woodfill, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, told ABC News in a statement that he plans on appealing the decision. Woodfill, who has also filed suits against mask mandates and lockdowns in Texas on behalf of clients, said the case is "just one battle in a larger war to protect the rights of employees to be free from being forced to participate in a vaccine trial as a condition for employment."
"All of my clients continue to be committed to fighting this unjust policy," he said in his statement.
At the end of the June deadline, 24,947 hospital employees -- 96% -- had been vaccinated, according to a spokesperson for Houston Methodist. There were178 employees who were suspendedfor not getting their shots in time, and they will have until June 21 to get one vaccine shot before they are terminated, the spokeswoman told ABC News on Sunday.
As of June 11, there were at least 27 suspended employees who got their first shot, the hospital told ABC News.
"Our employees and physicians made their decisions for our patients, who are always at the center of everything we do. They have fulfilled their sacred obligation as health care workers, and we couldn’t ask for a more dedicated, caring and talented team,” Dr. Marc Boom, the president and CEO of Houston Methodist said in a statement.
Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at University of Texas School of Law, told ABC News that the hospital's mandate had an airtight legal backing since the vaccines' emergency use authorization status was not enough reason for employees to back out.
She added that the hospital's high success rate in getting their staff vaccinated may spur other health organizations to issue a mandate unless they are prohibited by state and local orders.
"The other obvious place we would see vaccine mandates is, of course, schools and universities butGov. [Greg] Abbott’s orderthat prohibits schools from mandating vaccines short-circuited that tool," Sepper told ABC News.
Doctors and health experts said the COVID-19 vaccine rates have led to a major drop in cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the last two months. As of Sunday, over 143.1 million Americans, roughly 43.1% of the population, are fully vaccinated, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Houston, 1.7 million residents have been fully vaccinated as of Sunday, according to theHarris County COVID-19 data hub.
Anyone who needs help scheduling a free vaccine appointment can log ontovaccines.gov.
