Vaccination mandates are being enacted all over many companies in America, and if you’re an employee who refuses vaccination, you might get fired.
However, a person can refuse the shot are if they have a qualifying underlying health condition or deeply held religious beliefs.
“One of the underlying health conditions I’ve seen was an individual that received the first shot had an adverse reaction, so her doctor recommended that she not get the second shot. So, she has a doctor backing her up,” West Virginia employment attorney Richard Walters said, on the difficulty of proving specific conditions for vaccine refusal.
Walters also added, “For those individuals that are trying to get the deeply held religious [exemption], because of the manner in which the vaccines were developed, what they are starting to find out is the COVID-19 is not the only thing developed in that manner.”
This comes after a nationwide vaccine mandate effort by the Biden administration which requires employers at companies that staff more than 100 people to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or getting tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis.
This mandate, in addition to requiring federal employees and contractors to get vaccinated, also affects private businesses.
Recommended Read: Biden Planning to Fine Firms Up to $700,000 If Vaccine Mandate Not Followed
“I know that vaccination requirements are a tough medicine — unpopular to some, politics for others — but they’re lifesaving, they’re game-changing for our country,” Biden said.
Companies that do not impose vaccine requirements could face fines of nearly $14,000 per violation, according to administration officials.
Recent struggles at companies and in cities that have already pursued their own vaccine mandates have highlighted some of the challenges that lie ahead for businesses that will soon confront the nationwide mandate.
Critics have warned that current labor shortages could be made worse by the coming Labor Department rule, as existing mandates have suggested some workers will choose to leave their jobs rather than submit to the vaccine requirement.
Stay tuned for more vaccine-related news here on The East County Gazette.
