Employers May Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine

Misbar has discovered that according to Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University, via InsuranceJournal.com: “Companies have every good reason to get all of their employees vaccinated and also have an obligation to keep all employees and customers safe.” 

Precedent for mandatory vaccines may have been set by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when they permitted an employer to choose to administer COVID-19 testing to employees before initially permitting them to enter the workplace. 

However, the EEOC also mandates that employers make sure that the tests are considered accurate and reliable which may present a problem with COVID-19 vaccines. 

Robert Field, a law and public health professor at Drexel University, said, “Employers are on shakier grounds because of the emergency use authorization.” He believes companies considering vaccine mandates should wait for vaccines to undergo a full-fledged regulatory review process.

Requiring employees to get vaccinated for the flu is another action that will probably be used as a basis for decision-making around the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Health and Safety Administration, “While OSHA does not specifically require employees to take the vaccines, an employer may do so. In that case, an employee who refuses vaccination because of a reasonable belief that he or she has a medical condition that creates a real danger of serious illness or death (such as serious reaction to the vaccine) may be protected.” In other words, employers may require vaccines, but they also have to allow for exceptions.