With promising news from three COVID-19 vaccine trials showing 90% to 95% efficacy, employers are now weighing whether they should simply encourage their employees to get vaccinated or make it mandatory.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has stated that employers can legally impose a flu vaccine requirement on their workforce, but employees have the right to request medical or religious exemptions under federal anti-discrimination laws. Each claim must be evaluated on its own merits, a time-consuming process for employers.
While it may be legal for employers to compel their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine, doing so would be a huge, difficult undertaking, says Y. Tony Yang, executive director of the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University, who has argued against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“It’s going to have lots of pushback, and lots of people are going to claim exemptions” out of concern about the safety of the vaccine, he says.
A recent Gallup poll found that 42% of Americans say they will not get the COVID-19 vaccine, though the poll was conducted before the recent optimistic vaccine results.
Pork producer Smithfield Foods, which sustained a coronavirus outbreak early in the pandemic that infected nearly 1,300 workers according to OSHA, says it does not anticipate a firm mandate at this time, even as the company has requested priority access to the vaccine for food and agricultural workers. Smithfield is aiming to offer the vaccine on site once it becomes available.
Frozen food manufacturer Bellisio Foods is also planning for on-site COVID-19 vaccinations but does not expect to require employees to take part.
