Peyton Grisham is an emergency room nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital.

I've been an ear nurse for five years now.

I worked at Methodist Hospital.

Back in April, her hospital told staff that all employees would be required to get vaccinated.

Honestly, it freaked me out at first.

She told NPR's Allison Aubrey.

She knows how real this pandemic is.

Grisham was on the front lines when her hospital was overwhelmed by COVID patients last winter.

And a lot of those patients died right before her eyes.

Still, a mandate to get the vaccine felt different.

Being told that you have to have this certain thing done by a certain time

or else you could quite possibly lose your job.

I think you don't freak anyone out.

Grisham decided to do her own research and weigh her options.

I kept taking a step back and I was like, am I getting freaked out about this

because someone's telling me to do it?

Or is it because it might actually harm me?

In the end, she consulted her doctor and ultimately got the vaccine.

Hospitals around the country have had similar mandates for months.

Meanwhile, public health officials have been getting creative

with coaxing, pleading, and even offering money to convince more Americans to roll up their sleeves.

But this week, government leaders went even further.

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