As the first doses of coronavirus vaccines are given to healthcare workers and other high risk groups, many employees around the country are asking: Can my boss legally require that I get the COVID-19 vaccine?
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna have each said that their vaccine is about 95% effective.
American healthcare workers received the first COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, soon after Pfizer became the first candidate to receive emergency authorization in the US from the Food and Drug Administration.
Moderna’s shot is expected to be next. The New York Times has reported that it could be authorized by Friday, which would allow millions of Americans to get access to the vaccine by next week, largely increasing access to vaccines to protect against the coronavirus.
Can bosses make a coronavirus vaccination mandatory at the workplace?
Workers likely first want to know what exactly their employers can require of them. In short, yes, employers can make vaccines mandatory, Jimmy Robinson, managing shareholder at the L&E firm Ogletree Deakins’s Richmond office, told Business Insider.
He also mentioned that there would need to be religious and medical accommodations, with specific requirements varying by state and locale.
Karla Grossenbacher, chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s L&E practice in Washington, DC, said that employers would have to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The ADA says that employers can require medical exams and vaccinations of employees under certain, specific conditions, like for healthcare workers, or if it poses a “direct threat” to the person if they are exempted, Grossenbacher said.
