Objective COVID-19 vaccine mandates are being implemented in health systems across the United States and the impact on the radiology department workforce and operations due to vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers is currently unknown. This article discusses the potential impact of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on a large multi-center radiology department as well as strategies to mitigate those effects. Methods Weekly vaccine compliance data was obtained for employees across the entire health system from August 17, 2021 through September 13, 2021 and radiology department specific data was extracted. Vaccine compliance data was mapped to specific radiology job titles and the five different hospital locations. Results A total of 6% of radiology department employees were not fully vaccine compliant by the initial deadline of September 10, 2021. Magnetic resonance (MR) technologists and radiology technology assistants had the highest initial rates of non-compliance of 37% and 38%, respectively. Vaccine non-compliance rates by the mandate deadline ranged from 0.5-7.0% at the five hospital sites. Only one hospital required a decrease in imaging hours of operation due to the vaccine mandate. Conclusion Despite initial concerns about the impact of vaccine-mandate non-compliance on departmental operations, there was ultimately little effect due to improved vaccine compliance following the mandate. Understanding individual employee and locoregional differences in vaccine compliance can help leaders proactively develop mitigation strategies to manage this new challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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