ADA comments on OSHA rule requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to institute vaccine, testing policies

 Association concerned mandate could exacerbate staffing shortagesThe ADA is concerned that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ’s emergency temporary standard mandating employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular masking and testing could potentially impede patients’ access to oral health care. In a Dec. 1 letter to Douglas L. Parker, assistant secretary of labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ADA President Cesar R. Sabates, D.D.S., and Executive Director Raymond A. Cohlmia, D.D.S., said because of low COVID-19 infection rates in dentistry and high vaccination rates of dental personnel, requiring dental practice owners to institute a mandatory vaccination and testing policy will likely have “little impact” on the safety of dental personnel and patients. The Association is concerned, however, that such a mandate could have the unintended effect of exacerbating dental team shortages which would limit dentists’ ability to see more patients and impede access to essential health care. In the letter, Drs. Sabates and Cohlmia told OSHA that research indicates that infection rates among dentists and dental teams are “very low — far lower than for other health care workers, such as nurses and physicians, and even lower than in the general population” and noted the cumulative COVID-19 infection rate was just 2.6% for dentists and 3.9% for dent...
Source: Dental Technology Blog - Category: Dentistry Source Type: news