GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Cone Health employee says she's being "fired" for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

What You Need To Know

  • Dickinson doesn't feel comfortable getting vaccinated after her daughter developed heart complications after the first dose of Moderna
  • An email Cone Health sent out says employees that refuse to get vaccinated by the deadlines will be considered non-compliant and voluntarily resigned
  • Dickinson says she worries about what this means for the hospital as we move into flu season

Andrea Dickinson has worked at Cone Health as a nurse secretary for four years. She said recently the hospital has made it a requirement to show proof of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by noon on October 28.

An email she received from Cone Health reads: "If team members do not meet these deadlines, they will be considered non-compliant and voluntarily resigned with the following day being their last day worked (October 8th or October 29, depending on which deadline was missed)."

Due to the fact that Dickinson does not plan on getting the vaccine, her last day is October 8.

“I’m not resigning, they’re going to have to fire me, I want to keep my job, I didn’t ask for this," Dickinson said.

She told Spectrum News 1 she doesn't feel comfortable getting vaccinated after she said her daughter developed heart complications after receiving the first dose of Moderna. She added she feels cheated by her employer for making her own medical choice.

“I feel wronged, we all went to work when COVID first started, and we weren’t vaccinated then, and we wore masks and we lived to tell about it and we were heroes, and now, suddenly you’re going to lose your job because you have made a choice not to get vaccinated. It’s my choice, I’m not preaching to people whether they should or shouldn’t get vaccinated. I still live in America and last time I checked, we should have the freedom to choose," Dickinson said.

Dickinson added she is thankful she can step away from work due to her husband's job, but also added she is concerned about her coworkers that have to choose between their living and a medical choice. She also worries about the health care system and what will happen to hospitals that are already seeing staffing shortages.

“You’ve got flu season that’s coming ... and the seasons that really put sick people in the hospital, and if you don’t have the employees there to take care of them what’s going to happen," Dickson said.

Cone Health told Spectrum News 1 they will provide a statement on October 8 in regards to their vaccination requirements and their vaccination numbers.