The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has decided that employers can require workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and offered guidance on exceptions.
Employers have been hoping for clarity from the agency as they mull whether to mandate vaccination even as many people remain concerned about the safety of a vaccine developed so quickly and not tested on certain populations.
The guidelines, published Wednesday, mostly confirm what attorneys have been advising clients as vaccines begin to be distributed.
In essence, the EEOC said employers can require that employees get inoculated as a condition of going to work, unless an employee declines because of a disability or a sincerely held religious belief.