{"id":5198,"date":"2021-01-06T12:17:02","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T16:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/?p=5198"},"modified":"2021-01-06T12:17:02","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T16:17:02","slug":"what-workplace-rules-apply-to-covid-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/what-workplace-rules-apply-to-covid-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"What Workplace Rules Apply to COVID Vaccines?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s good news finally about the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected workers and everyone in numerous ways. More than 350,000 Americans have died due to the disease and nearly 20 million Americans have become infected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration has approved two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and by Moderna. The vaccines use mRNA technology. Everyone who receives these two vaccines which helps their immunity system fight the disease \u2013 will require two doses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/coronavirus\/article248183495.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Raleigh News &amp; Observer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, North Carolina health officials are setting the priorities for when different classes of people (depending on their work activities, health risks, and age) should be eligible for the vaccine. The December 31, 2020 article outlines the priorities. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, stated at a press conference, that the state will have a four-part rollout of the vaccines. The plan, which was developed through North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper\u2019s office, will prioritize older people and frontline essential workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The North Carolina priorities match the vaccination priorities set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phase 1a rollout. In this first phase, priority is given to \u201chealth care workers in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, and also long-term care residents and staff.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phase 1b rollout. Here, three groups of North Carolina residents will receive the next two million sets of vaccination. There are sub-priorities in these phases as follows:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Group 1: People 75 years and older, no matter what underlying conditions they have or don\u2019t have<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Group 2: Health care workers who work with patients and frontline essential workers who are 50 or older.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Group 3: Health care workers who work with patients and frontline essential workers of any age who have not been vaccinated yet.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How are \u201cfrontline essential workers\u201d defined<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Carolina uses the CDC definition of a frontline essential workers. These people are employees who are at the \u201chighest risk for being exposed to the coronavirus\u201d \u201cThis phase is expected to begin in early January.\u201d Frontline workers, according to the published article, include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First responders like firefighters and police officers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grocery store workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Childcare workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teachers and education support staff<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corrections officers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food and agricultural workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U.S. Postal Service workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manufacturing workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public transit workers<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Phase 2 rollout. This phase includes the following categories (in the following order) of North Carolina residents:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People ages 65-74<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People ages 16-64 with high-risk conditions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People incarcerated and living in other group settings<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEssential workers.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How are essential workers defined?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEssential workers are defined by N.C. DHHS and the CDC as\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transportation and logistics workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Water and wastewater workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food-service workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shelter and housing workers, including construction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finance workers, like bank tellers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Information technology workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Media workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public safety workers like engineers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public health workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communications workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Energy workers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers in the legal field<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phase 3 rollout. This phase includes college and university students and students 16 years-of-age and older.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vaccines are being given to residents just as North Carolina announced likely increases in \u201cCOVID-19 cases and hospitalizations expected due to Christmas and New Year\u2019s gatherings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><i>Can Employers mandate that employees take the vaccine?<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fayobserver.com\/story\/news\/2020\/12\/07\/nc-covid-19-vaccinations-can-mandated-private-sector-employers\/3814238001\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Fayetteville Observer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the issue of whether employers can or can\u2019t mandate that their workers be vaccinated is fast becoming a reality \u2013 and not a hypothetical. Health officials in North Carolina expect that the general adult population will have enough vaccines during the first half of 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told the USA Today Network it has no plans to mandate vaccinations. But private sector employers can require workers to get them, labor law experts say.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to UNC School o f Law professor, Jeffery Hirsch, the private sector can manage employee vaccinations because the \u201cprivate sector is at-will employment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Already, health care providers do mandate that members of the provider\u2019s staff get immunizations for mumps, polio, the yearly flu, and other preventable diseases. According to Duke University School of Law professor, Dan Bowling, \u201cjobs that feature significant customer and coworker interactions often have vaccine requirements.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generally, employers need to show that mandating the vaccine is a job-related necessity and \u201cwould pose a \u2018direct threat to the health or safety of others\u2019 if skipped according to the Americans for Disabilities Act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers whose job is terminated for noncompliance to these mandates may file EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaints \u2013 but \u201cexperts say the law favors employers, even when workers seek medical or religious exemptions.\u201d \u201cWhile Title VII of the Civil Rights Act says employers must reasonably accommodate workers\u2019 religious practices, the law allows employers leniency if these accommodations pose an \u2018undue hardship\u2019 on their business. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers are likely to mandate the vaccines for two reasons. The first reason is to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the employer\u2019s business. The second reason is because a large number of people (about 60 to 90%) need to have the vaccines or have been infected \u2013 to reach herd immunity. There are concerns that many people will not get the vaccine \u2013 even when it becomes clear the vaccines are working.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Health officials in North Carolina are working to assure residents that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Some employers are expected to offer financial incentives (similar to company incentives for insurance rate breaks for non-smokers) to encourage workers to take the vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, hospitals have been hesitant to mandate the vaccines for their staff. \u201cGiven the limited experience with the vaccine, there are no current plans to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for UNC Health employees,\u2019 a UNC Health statement said.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the president of the N.C. Nurses Association, most health care workers are welcoming the vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All employees are valuable workers. It\u2019s critical that all workers have access to vaccines so they can work on-site instead of remotely. Once workers do return to work at their regular job locations, they will still be at risk for many types of physical injuries and occupational illnesses. If you\u2019re hurt at work for any reason, our experienced North Carolina and Virginia <a href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/practice-areas\/workers-compensation\/\">workers\u2019 compensation<\/a> lawyers are ready to help you jet the benefits you deserve. Call attorney Joe Miller, Esq., at 888-667-8295. or fill out my online <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/contact-us\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact form<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to schedule an appointment. Employees can now also complete our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/free-workers-comp-case-eval\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Electronic Case Review<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s a new way of communicating with our clients that we\u2019re providing this service to allow workers to contact us remotely.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s good news finally about the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected workers and everyone in numerous ways. More than 350,000 Americans have died due to the disease and nearly 20 million Americans have become infected.\u00a0 The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration has approved two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and by &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"What Workplace Rules Apply to COVID Vaccines?\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/what-workplace-rules-apply-to-covid-vaccines\/#more-5198\" aria-label=\"Read more about What Workplace Rules Apply to COVID Vaccines?\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[231],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Joe Miller","author_link":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/author\/jmiller\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"There\u2019s good news finally about the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected workers and everyone in numerous ways. More than 350,000 Americans have died due to the disease and nearly 20 million Americans have become infected.\u00a0 The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration has approved two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and by&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}