Can an Employer Make COVID Vaccination Mandatory?

Here is the logical and legal basis for that conclusion:

 

Florida Statute Chapter 381 on Public Health makes it possible for the government and the community at large to tackle highly communicable diseases, such as AIDS, etc. Being that COVID-19 is: (i) a highly communicable disease that readily transmits from one person to another without physical contact, just based on proximity alone, and (ii) if transmitted, it can have a highly detrimental and a severe impact on those afflicted by it; thus requiring all employees to be vaccinated is not only a logical but a likely conclusion.

 

However, there will be exceptions that have to be taken into account: (i) medical or (ii) religious reasons. Some individuals may have a medical condition that keeps them from getting vaccinated, i.e. like those with autoimmune deficiencies or another conflicting ailment. Some individuals may have a religious belief to not be injected with the chemical composition of a vaccine into their body. In either event, if the exception is invoked by an employee, the onus will be upon the employer to make “reasonable accommodations” for the person requesting it, i.e. remote work capabilities, reasonable shielding of the individual, etc. There is actually a third level of resistance, which is not recognized under law, that is “fear”. I doubt there is much protection for that.

 

It will be interesting how we emerge out of 2021 as a community and as a society. Stay tuned.