When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated their travel recommendations they also updated masking recommendations, some of them specific to health care settings.     

The new recommendations include allowances for a fully vaccinated health care employee to remove his/her mask in specific situations. Specifically, the CDC says: “Fully vaccinated HCP (health care personnel) should continue to wear source control (masks) while at work. However, fully vaccinated HCP could dine and socialize together in break rooms and conduct in- person meetings without source control or physical distancing. If unvaccinated HCP are present, everyone should wear source control and unvaccinated HCP should physically distance from others.”

These mask-free and social-distance-free situations are a welcome reprieve, but it creates an unintentional yet potentially awkward situation. Although 70% of FHP employees are fully vaccinated, 30% are unvaccinated. We want vaccinated employees to enjoy these new freedoms and at the same time we don’t want to create resentment nor do we want unvaccinated employees to feel alienated. This is a sensitive situation that requires great diplomacy from everyone.  

Vaccinated employees: 

• Masks can be removed during breaks and meetings as long as everyone involved is fully vaccinated and you are in a non-public area completely out of view of patients, visitors, and vendors. (Recognize that most patients, visitors and vendors will not be familiar with the health-care-specific allowances. Seeing unmasked employees in a health care setting sends the wrong message.) 
• Be sensitive to those around you who may not be vaccinated and may not be comfortable speaking up. 
• In a situation where vaccination hasn’t been or can’t be tactfully verified, the default will always be to wear a mask.
• If you are unsure how to handle these conversations or you’re uncomfortable navigating these situations, work with your leader or contact Human Resources. 

 Unvaccinated employees:

• Keep open lines of communication with your leader, if you’re uncomfortable navigating these situations, discuss them with your leader.
• Understand that this is a sensitive situation and there may be missteps as work is done to operationalize these new allowances.
• If you have vaccine questions or want more information about getting vaccinated, we have a team of physicians who can meet with you one-on-one, or, if you prefer, you can submit your questions anonymously and answers will be posted to ‘Talk to a Doc’ on The Loop. Or, you can submit questions to EmployeeFeedback@FoundationHealth.org 
• If you’d like to be vaccinated, there are several options. You can receive the Pfizer vaccine every Friday at FMH in the Ghezzi conference room, 7:30-10:30am, make an appointment here or walk in. You can receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Monday-Friday in Occ. Health, 2:30-3:30pm, make an appointment here. Or you can make an appointment with a community provider or at the community clinic, at COVIDvax.Alaska.gov.

Again, this is a sensitive, potentially divisive situation. As health care workers and more importantly, as FHP employees we are all in this together, don’t lose sight of that. 

Please reach out to your leader or Human Resources if you need guidance. If you have questions, comments, concerns or suggestions please send them to EmployeeFeedback@FoundationHealth.org