Chicago health care clinics order vaccines for employees

CHICAGO (AP) - Health care facilities in the Chicago area that serve some 80,000 low-income patients have joined a growing national push to require their employees to get vaccinated to try to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Esperanza Health Centers, Alivio Medical Center, AHS Family Health Center and CommunityHealth - this week announced that their employees must get their first COVID-19 vaccine shot by Sept. 1.

The announcement comes as a climbing number of coronavirus cases has prompted hospitals around the country to do the same. In Chicago, it follows similar announcements from some of the city's largest hospital systems.

These four community health operate more than a dozen clinics across the city serve patients who are uninsured and are undocumented immigrants.

'œThis decision was not taken lightly, but the rapid increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations requires us to be especially proactive at a time when highly-effective vaccines are widely available,'ť Dan Fulwiler, president and CEO of Esperanza, said in a news release. 'œPreserving the health of our personnel, patients and employees is our top responsibility and we believe this measure will help us better protect our families and communities.'ť