As more healthcare companies threaten to fire employees who refuse to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, more questions are being raised as to the motivation behind the mandate, and whether already understaffed hospitals and clinics can afford to lose a large number of staff.
Banner Health, one of the “get vaccinated or get fired” healthcare companies, has promised that employees will receive information this month on possible exemptions to its Nov. 1 vaccination mandate. The company has been the target of protests since its announcement, with many employees expressing concern with the unknown long-term consequences of the vaccination, particularly the effect on fertility.
Last week it was disclosed that a Banner nursing director sent an email informing an employee that the company intended to exempt pregnant nurses from the vaccination edict. The company has not formally announced its exemption protocols, but some employees are hoping a pregnancy exemption would apply to those who recently gave birth or are actively trying to get pregnant.
Other healthcare workers are opposing the vaccination mandate due to concerns with the unknown long-term safety and side effects. Others opposing their employers’ position argue that medical professionals need to be on the frontlines of ensuring people retain their right to decide what type of medical care they receive, including preventative issues such as vaccinations.
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The FDA’s emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines does not prohibit public or private entities from imposing vaccine requirements, “even when the only vaccines available are those authorized under EUAs.” Some individual states have enacted laws against vaccine mandates, but most do not apply to healthcare companies and medical facilities.
However, a growing number of people are questioning whether the timing of the COVID-19 mandate is really about public health, or if there is another motivation for the companies.
An administrator of a rural Arizona hospital noted Mayo Clinic is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated or have completed “a declination process” by Sept. 17. However, the deadline for Banner as well as HonorHealth is not for several months -Nov. 1. If the reasoning for a workplace COVID-19 vaccination mandate is the urgency to protect public and employee health, why do those two companies have a deadlines so far into the future?
In the meantime, any employer moving forward with a termination plan for unvaccinated employees needs to ensure the policy does not violate federal and state laws.
Earlier this year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) advised employers that requiring vaccination as a condition of employment could run afoul with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the religion freedoms accorded by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Normally employers must provide “reasonable accommodation” to employees, but the EEOC noted employers could be protected against discrimination claims if there is “significant difficulty or expense” on the part of the employer.
“Whether there are feasible accommodations that do not pose an undue hardship will depend on many facts specific to each workplace and the duties of the individual,” the EEOC noted.
The same employer hardship provision is included in a new Arizona law (ARS 23-206) which takes effect at the end of September. The law will require employers to “provide a reasonable accommodation” for employees who seek an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccination based on “religions beliefs, practices, or observances.”
The hospital administrator told Arizona Daily Independent that even a small number of employees citing a religious exemption would pose “an undue hardship” for employers, administratively and financially. The administrator said it would be burdensome even in a small hospital to continually track who is vaccinated or not when preparing work schedules and shift assignments.
And if exemptions become too difficult to get, one emergency nurse believes healthcare workers may not have the protection of the law. They will also become disillusioned with their chosen profession.
“These hospital systems and top administrators and surgeons are well-connected with powerful politicians, and they will be able to browbeat lower level employees into submission,” the nurse said Sunday. “It this coercion is allowed you will see an exodus of healthcare professionals into small, private companies that respect our rights and our decisions.”