Amita Health and Edward-Elmhurst Health will require their workers to get COVID-19 vaccines, following the lead of many other Chicago area hospitals that have mandated the shots.

       The hospital systems’ decision to require vaccines comes just a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine. But representatives of the systems said Tuesday they were not waiting for that approval and had been planning mandates for some time.

       Amita is one of the largest hospital systems in Illinois, with 14 acute care hospitals. It will require vaccines for 900 providers in its medical groups, more than 26,000 employees and 7,000 physician partners by Nov. 12.

       A sign greets medical staff and patients at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates on April 29, 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

       Edward-Elmhurst, which has hospitals in Elmhurst and Naperville, will require vaccines by Oct. 25 for its 8,500 employees, including 1,900 nurses, 2,000 physicians on its medical staff, plus 1,200 volunteers.

       Amita and Edward-Elmhurst are among the last large hospital systems in the Chicago area to mandate the shots, though Northwestern Medicine has not announced a vaccine requirement.

       Loyola Medicine, which has three Chicago-area hospitals, announced in early July that it would require the vaccines for its 9,523 employees and 500 affiliated community doctors.

       In the following days and weeks, Rush, UI Health, University of Chicago Medicine, Advocate Aurora Health and Lurie Children’s Hospital followed suit. NorthShore University HealthSystem, Sinai Chicago and Cook County Health announced mandates for their workers last week.

       “Only by vaccinating will we stop this virus from circulating and mutating,” said Keith Parrott, president and CEO of Amita, in a news release.

       At Amita, “reasonable accommodations” will be made for those who are unable to receive the vaccine for health or religious reasons, and education and listening sessions will be held in coming weeks.

       Edward-Elmhurst CEO Mary Lou Mastro said in a news release that the FDA has verified the safety of the vaccine. The FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer vaccine Monday — a move that’s expected to prompt more employers to mandate the shots.

       “We recognize that not everyone will agree with this decision,” Mastro said in the news release. “The ethical framework under which we operate, however, means that it is our responsibility to do good, and an individual’s right to autonomy ends when that person’s actions may harm others. ... This is the right thing to do.”

       Exemptions will be given for approved medical and religious reasons, Edward-Elmhurst said.

       Amita and Edward-Elmhurst hospital systems to require vaccines for workers

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