Mercy Iowa City will not require COVID-19 vaccinations among colleagues and medical staff after the MercyOne network required its staff to be vaccinated Tuesday.

The clinic, an affiliate of MercyOne in the process of leaving the network, wasn’t affected by MercyOne’s requirement. Mercy Iowa City Communication Strategist Aaron Scheinblum wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that Mercy Iowa City has no plans to require COVID-19 vaccinations for colleagues at this time.

Mercy Iowa City announced the end of its partnership with the MercyOne health network, though Mercy Iowa City will remain affiliated with MercyOne through its current evaluation process in July, as previously reported by the DI.

MercyOne is joining more than 100 hospitals and health systems in the U.S. to require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, MercyOne Public Relations and Content Manager Adam Amdor wrote in a release on Tuesday.

The decision affects more than 20,000 employees at more than 420 clinics across the state.

The announcement follows UnityPoint Health, which required its employees to be vaccinated on Aug. 5.

The American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of American Medical Colleges, and National Association for Home Care and Hospice have all mandated COVID-19 vaccinations. Employees of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, including those at the VA Health Care System in Iowa City, are required to be vaccinated.

“With case counts rising amid the spread of the Delta variant, more than 50 health care professional societies and organizations have called for all health care workers to be vaccinated,” Amdor wrote.