Cincinnati hospital poll on COVID vaccine shows a third of nurses would quit rather than be forced to take it

Ohio nurses are pushing back against hospitals requiring them to take the coronavirus vaccine, and a recent survey shows that about 30% of nurses at one Cincinnati medical center would quit before taking the vaccine.

One hundred thirty-six out of 456 nurses who responded to a union survey at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said they would quit their job instead of following a mandate to get vaccinated, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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"This places the medical center in a very difficult position, and it places the nurses in a very difficult position," Dominic Mendiola, a labor representative for the nurses association said, adding that the hospital has been at capacity on and off since July.

UC Health system announced in July that employees needed to be vaccinated by Oct. 1 and other area hospitals have also implemented a mandate. 

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Seventy percent of nurses polled said they had already taken the vaccine.

"We are proud of the thousands of our nurses, physicians and other employees who have been fully vaccinated," UC Health spokeswoman Amanda Nageleisen said. "The science supports their decision, and we applaud their willingness to step forward and advance the safety of our patients, staff and community. These survey results do not reflect the views of the majority of our 10,000 employees, including our 2,600 nurses across the UC Health system."

Businesses, school districts, state governments, and healthcare systems across the country have been grappling with the idea of vaccine mandates and the Biden administration has urged employers and local governments to require vaccinations. 

The White House COVID-19 response team on Tuesday urged businesses in the country to require employees to be vaccinated.

COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients presented a White House briefing alongside Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House chief medical adviser.

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"Bottom line, vaccination requirements work," Zients said. "They drive up vaccination rates and we need more businesses and other employers, including health care systems, school districts, colleges and universities, to step up and do their part to help end the pandemic faster. We need more individuals to step up to."

He continued: "We continue to push for more vaccination process, including through vaccination requirements. The president first adopted vaccination requirements for federal workers last month and now over 800 colleges and universities, 200 health care employers, small and large businesses across the country and dozens of state and local governments and schools districts have stepped up to follow the president's lead. Tens of millions of Americans are now covered by vaccination requirements."

Fox News' Kyle Morris contributed to this report.