The more people get the coronavirus vaccine, the quicker we tamp down the pandemic and return life back to normal, vaccines in a nutshell. Already, medical professionals are being required by their respective employers to take a shot, which leads to the question: Can your employer make you get a COVID-19 vaccine?
The short answer: Yes. Employers can make vaccines a requirement if you plan to keep working there. There are important exceptions, however, for possible questions over any condition you may have and for religious beliefs that forbid vaccines. And experts say that employers are more likely to simply encourage their employees to get immunized than to issue a company-wide requirement.
U.S. Government: Employers Can Require Vaccines
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that employers may mandate workers to obtain vaccines against diseases that have been identified as pandemics, such as COVID-19. The Agency's advice goes back to the 2009 H1N1 (aka 'swine flu') epidemic but was revised in March 2020 specifically to address the coronavirus pandemic. As was the case in 2009, there are two significant exceptions to this rule:
Civil Rights Act
But if you do not have a medical excuse that you do not wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19, you may be entitled to protest on other grounds-Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers individuals who refuse to take a compulsory vaccination because of their genuine religious beliefs.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not require membership in a church or even faith in God to justify religious objections: clear or genuine spiritual or ethical convictions are also protected by the law.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to offer "reasonable accommodations" to staff with medical problems that would render them unable to take a vaccine. For example, the FDA has suggested that patients with such allergies should not get a coronavirus vaccine, although there could also be other factors, such as a weakened immune system.
What happens if you object to receiving the corona vaccine when your workplace mandates it?
Just because you have a legitimate medical or religious objection to getting a coronavirus vaccine does not mean that your boss has to allow you to continue working under the same circumstances that you have been accustomed to.
The aforementioned objections above require employers to make "reasonable accommodations" if the individual objects to obtaining a vaccine. Such accommodation could include encouraging the employee to work remotely or to take a leave of absence.
Employers may take a middle ground approach: if an employee refuses a vaccine, the employer may then require them to put on extra personal protective equipment, separate from others in the workplace, or even work remotely. Refusal of the vaccine on the grounds of a medical exception or a religious objection is a legal right that must be accommodated.
Employers may terminate a worker if the employee rejects both vaccination and extra precautions such as PPE, a situation that is likely to end up in court.
