With vaccines rolling out across the country and around the world, there is real hope that the end of the COVID pandemic may finally be in sight. While there’s clearly a long way to go, reported vaccine efficacy of around 95% in clinical trials is extraordinarily encouraging.
Initial doses of the approved Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been distributed and administered primarily to health workers, first responders, and elderly and vulnerable individuals, but the promise of more supply — in addition to newly approved vaccines already in the pipeline — should significantly ramp up availability in the weeks and months ahead.
While this is unquestionably good news, increased vaccine availability does raise difficult-but-important questions for companies looking to protect their employees and make smart decisions about workplace health and safety. Vaccine mandates, documentation, and immunity “passports” have been a hot topic of discussion, as speculation has grown around how an extended vaccine rollout will shape workplaces. What are the implications for returning to work, for business travel, and for other essential operations?
Understanding the landscape of policy and perspective surrounding this issue (including key considerations and possible complications) is going to be critically important for decision-makers, who will need to be collaborative, proactive, and thoughtful about how they handle this potentially sensitive topic.
Standarized proof of vaccination documentation
One of the key questions that has yet to be answered is if there will be any kind of standardized documentation that provides proof of vaccination. The framework for such a document already exists, The Carte Jaune is a kind of official “medical passport” from the World Health Organization (WHO) that documents an individual’s vaccination against a range of diseases, including things like cholera and yellow fever.
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, “several organizations are already working on a vaccine passport” solution. Some airlines have already announced that they plan to require passengers on international flights to be vaccinated — and we can expect more travel providers, venues and businesses to issue similar restrictions in the not-too-distant future.
But until and unless we do see some kind of digital immunity passport companies will be faced with having to make their own decisions about what level of vaccine mandates or restrictions they will put in place.
Debate about mandated vaccination
While many companies make complementary annual flu shots available to their employees, that’s almost exclusively voluntary. Making COVID vaccination mandatory would be extremely tricky. While probably legal, the response from employees is likely to be highly variable. Unless your business requires regular travel to countries that mandate vaccination, you can expect some pushback on what is bound to be a hot-button issue. Unfortunately, vaccine issues are already controversial in the U.S., a nation where personal autonomy and distrust of government occupy significant strands of cultural and civic DNA. Anecdotally, we’ve already seen something like 25-30% of medical professionals declining to receive the COVID vaccine. If the number is that high in a relatively well-informed and educated group, it’s reasonable to think that similar or higher numbers will exist in other work environments, as well. There’s also the very real possibility (probability) that anti-vaccine advocates and irresponsible media outlets will sensationalize what have already shown to be extraordinarily rare cases of adverse reactions to vaccination.
One wildcard to keep an eye on going forward is the potential for new government regulation or some other kind of formal action stipulating that companies can mandate vaccination. That would give meaningful air cover to companies that wished to implement such a plan. To date, however, the government has not provided official guidance or support for any kind of contact tracing program; companies have had to implement their own plans. It remains to be seen whether a new administration will take a different approach to vaccine mandates.
Designing a vaccination policy
When it comes to developing and designing any kind of vaccine compliance or monitoring program in the workplace, there are several key questions that decision-makers will need to answer.
There are fundamental questions of ownership: who mandates vaccine protocols? Who will validate proof of vaccination, and who will enforce the policy — including any consequences for noncompliance? The practicalities and logistics are potentially daunting, and the risk and security implications are potentially profound — and need to be carefully considered in conjunction with a trusted security partner. If you are able to secure a quantity of vaccine to distribute in your organization, how will you administer it, and what criteria will you use to determine who has access? How will your vaccine policy apply to vendors, visitors, clients and professional partners? And, for countries with overseas employees, to what extent will you protect your supply chain and enforce your policy in facilities located outside of the country?
How you will handle personal travel outside of work is another issue. Some companies are experimenting with apps that have automated health and travel checks with flags to supervisors that could trigger a follow-up conversation. Other companies will likely enforce mandatory quarantine periods for any high-risk travel or behavior. At a time when one employee’s poor decision can have a profound impact on fellow employees and the company as a whole, systems and solutions like this will likely play an increasingly important role.
In terms of best practices for developing and deploying a vaccine policy, companies should:
- Ensure coordination between key stakeholders. Larger companies will likely have an in-house medical director who can coordinate with legal and HR professionals to address key privacy questions and issues with personal medical data.
- Document everything. Protect your team and limit your liability by documenting every step of the vaccine policy development and enforcement process.
- Be transparent. Clarity and consistency are especially important when it comes to high-stakes issues that can feel very personal to your team.
- Be proactive. This is a fluid situation and companies need to be proactive and respond quickly to new developments. Closely monitor what other companies are doing, coordinate and collaborate with local, state and federal government entities, and start having critical conversations and crafting policies and procedures now—don’t wait.
- Get good advice. Finally, consider bringing in outside experts in medicine, legal and security to consult now. The stakes are simply too high to get this wrong, and the vaccine policy decisions you make today could have a profound and lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of your people—and your bottom line—for a very long time to come.
