Issues for Higher Education Institutions to Consider When Implementing a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy – Duane Morris
As states have opened COVID-19 vaccinations to all individuals 16 and older (and are expanding to age 12 and older, based on the CDC advisory committee’s recent recommendation), institutions of higher education, like many other employers, are considering whether to encourage or possibly mandate their employees to receive a vaccination. Unlike other organizations, institutions of higher education have the added quandary of whether to encourage or mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students in an effort to return to full in-person instruction. On March 25, 2021, Rutgers University became the first major institution of higher education to publicly announce that all students planning on attending the fall 2021 semester must be fully vaccinated. Since then, at least 80 colleges and universities have followed suit. Others have taken a “wait and see” posture, and some have chosen to encourage, but not require, the vaccine for students and employees. We summarize the issues and challenges regarding vaccination policies for employees and students below.
Policies Affecting Employees
As detailed in our prior Alert, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has strongly inferred an employer may implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, so long as exemptions are permitted for certain medical and religious reasons.