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District 27A state Rep. Peggy Bennett and 37 other state lawmakers have penned a letter to the Mayo Clinic urging it to end its COVID-19 vaccine mandates for staff and return to its original vaccine protocols.

“To be clear, none of us are opposed to vaccines,” said Bennett, R-Albert Lea, in a news release. “But most of these frontline workers willingly sacrificed and stepped-up last year, exposing themselves and their families to a then unknown virus without any protection of a vaccine. Many were sickened by the virus and now have natural immunity. Mayo is no longer under any obligation to enforce a vaccine mandate on its staff, and we are urging them to give its staff the freedom to decide if they want to receive the shot.”

According to an article in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, some of the largest U.S. Hospital systems have dropped COVID-19 vaccine mandates for staff after a federal judge halted President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate because of labor shortages. They include hospital operators HCA Healthcare, Tenet Healthcare Corp., AdventHealth and the Cleveland Clinic.

Thousands of nurses have either quit or been terminated rather than get vaccinated, according to the article. As of September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that 30% of workers at more than 2,000 hospitals across the country were unvaccinated.

Bennett said the Mayo Clinic “has the chance to do the right thing by finding a workable solution with its employees who, due to any number of reasons, may not want the vaccine.”

She said while there have been benefits shown from mRNA vaccines in protecting against severe illness and death, there are also legitimate concerns, including lack of long-term safety data and documented severe side effects like myocarditis.

“We are simply asking that both sides be acknowledged and considered in your vaccine policy,” she wrote. “People deserve to make this decision based on the benefits and risks for themselves and not coerced or forced into doing so by threat of losing one’s job. This is especially relevant considering that many of your employees do not need this vaccine because they have naturally acquired immunity gained from recovered illness.

Bennett’s letter encourages Mayo to “take the lead on this issue by reverting back to its original reasonable vaccine policy which allows for medical, religious and consciousness opt-outs for its employees.”

“In addition, we would be proud to have the Mayo Clinic take leadership in giving equivalent consideration to both natural immunity and artificial immunity for COVID19, which a preponderance of worldwide medical evidence now supports,” she said.