“The majority of people will eventually accept the vaccine, but there are still areas of the state where community adoption is still very low so we anticipate some labor shortages where we are already very thin on staff,” said he.

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In some buildings, the loss of 1 or 2 workers would be a blow to the operation and its ability to take on new residents, he said.

Some healthcare employers have already started their own vaccination programs. The largest healthcare systems in Georgia – Piedmont Healthcare, Wellstar Health System, and Emory Healthcare – set deadlines for COVID-19 vaccinations on October 1, unless staff have been granted a religious or medical exemption. Neither system wanted to comment on how many workers were granted exemptions.

Healthcare employers not yet mandated to vaccinate include Northside Hospital and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta said they checked the CMS announcement and declined to comment.

Northside did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Thursday.

Monty Veazey, president of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, said they only lost “maybe 300 workers” nationwide to existing or upcoming vaccine mandates of about 150,000 employees.

But the January mandate deadline has not yet come. “It’s not the worst result,” said Veazey. “But as small as we are in the healthcare sector, period, it puts a strain on our workforce.”

“I think we are all grateful that our frontline workers made the decision to get vaccinated,” said Veazey. “I think we’re relieved that the numbers aren’t as high as we expected.”

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Back in June, Canterbury Court, a long-term care community, celebrated the full vaccination of nearly 100% of its staff. The vast majority of residents are also vaccinated. (Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Photo credit: Jenni Girtman

Back in June, Canterbury Court, a long-term care community, celebrated the full vaccination of nearly 100% of its staff.  The vast majority of residents are also vaccinated.  (Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal Constitution)Label arrowsubtitle

Back in June, Canterbury Court, a long-term care community, celebrated the full vaccination of nearly 100% of its staff. The vast majority of residents are also vaccinated. (Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Photo credit: Jenni Girtman

Photo credit: Jenni Girtman

At the Phoebe Putney Health System in Albany, recognized providers such as doctors and nurses, salaried employees and new hires are required to get vaccinated unless they have a waiver, but others can have weekly tests. The trial option is expected to end on January 4th.

“While we are still reviewing the new rule released today by CMS, we will comply with it in full,” said a spokesman for Phoebe Putney in an email.

The spokesman said she wanted to review the rules and discuss her plans with staff before making an official comment.

Author Carrie Teegardin contributed to this article