Fifty-seven of America’s top medical groups are calling for a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the healthcare industry, according to a report in The Washington Post.

In an open letter, the organizations – including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association – write, “the health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.”

“One of the things that resonated with people is, ‘Look, we’re the medical community. This is a health problem. We need to lead — and we need to have the courage of our convictions,’ said Ezekiel Emanuel, a University of Pennsylvania bioethicist who helped draft the statement, to The Post.

On @MorningJoe, @JoeNBC calls on Biden and lawmakers to mandate the vaccine for some professions:

“… if you’re a schoolteacher, if you’re a nurse, if you’re a cop, you need to get vaccinated. And if you don’t, you need to look for another job.” pic.twitter.com/jgyRBEfPmI

— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2021

Vaccine hesitancy is stubbornly persistent in the medical community. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 38% of nursing home employees were not fully vaccinated as of July 11th. In hospitals, about a quarter of staff that have contact with patients had not been fully inoculated by the end of May, according to another analysis.

Meanwhile, the highly contagious delta variant has caused a dangerous resurgence of COVID-19. Case numbers have quadrupled this month as vaccine uptake has plateaued.

“Despite everything — cajoling, making access readily available at any pharmacy, making it free, having the president plead — all of this hasn’t really moved the needle very much in the nation,” Emanuel told The Post.

A small number of hospitals – about 9% – already require theirs staffs to get vaccinated. In the Houston Methodist healthcare system, 150 employees defied the requirement and left the organization. But compliance was overwhelming – 97% of employees got jabbed and 2% received a legitimate deferral or exemption.

To the president, governors, mayors, and those responsible for hospitals, schools, businesses, and other institutions:
Mandate the vaccine. Most of the rest is commentary.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 22, 2021

“I get phone calls and emails and conversations on a daily basis from nurses across the country that are saying, ‘I just reached my limit, I’m exhausted,’” Ernest Grant, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), said to The Post. “It is very frustrating when you know there are vaccines out there that are effective and can drive down the spread.”