![Actor Steve Burton fired from "General Hospital" after 29 years for refusing to get COVID vaccine](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/11/24/0c0d9c4c-44ad-4db3-92da-d73dfb76f76e/thumbnail/1200x630/354820a2e49f868a4072855acdcbf754/gettyimages-1236038364.jpg)
Actor Steve Burton fired from "General Hospital" after 29 years for refusing to get COVID vaccine
CBSN
Award-winning soap opera star Steve Burton has been fired from ABC's "General Hospital" after he refused to get the COVID vaccine, he confirmed in an Instagram video on Tuesday. Burton, who has been on the show intermittently since 1992, portrayed the character of Jason Morgan.
"I wanted you to hear it from me personally. Unfortunately, 'General Hospital' has let me go because of the vaccine mandate," he said in a video posted on his Instagram. "I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions and both of those were denied, which hurts but this is also about personal freedom to me. I don't think anybody should lose their livelihood over this."
"General Hospital" cast members were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, and was the first daytime serial to mandate vaccines, said actress Nancy Lee Grahn, who portrays Alexis Davis on the soap opera.
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Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.