Employers including NFL pushing for the public and players to get vaccinated

COVID-19 cases increase as companies think about mandating the vaccine

Valley companies and the NFL taking the next steps in making the vaccine a requirement for employment. FOX 10's Nicole Garcia reports.

PHOENIX - With Banner Health becoming the first major employer in Arizona to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all employees, other healthcare networks are following along.

Valleywise Health plans to follow Banner Health in mandating employees to get the vaccine.

Dr. Michael White, Chief Clinical Officer from Valleywise Health, says we don't need to see a large spike.

"We do not need to see another large spike within our communities of this disease when we have this tool available," White said.

Valleywise Hospital is seeing an increase of COVID-19 patients it's intensive care unit.

"And those that have not been vaccinated have those severe covid-19 symptoms that may make you have complications that require hospitalization and the ultimate complication is death," White said.

NFL's consequences on unvaccinated players

The NFL is not requiring all players to be vaccinated but the league is threatening teams that games could be forfeited if an outbreak occurs among unvaccinated players.

The NFL alerted owners on July 22 that teams can face canceled games that can be credited with a loss and face financial penalties.

James Hodge, ASU Center for Public Health Law and Policy Director, says the NFL will have to enforce the vaccine mandate.

"It's conditional vaccination the NFL is simply saying there are now conditions upon which if you're not vaccinated well we're going to have to enforce. And that is something you're going to see percolating across a lot of different sports leagues and a lot of different settings, it feels like and will likely have the effect of a vaccine mandate on players," Hodge said.

According to the NFL network, 78% of NFL players have had at least one dose of the vaccine. In Arizona, about half the population is vaccinated.