States Continue To Alter COVID Vaccines Rules

Last week, researchers at Lexis Nexis provided an overview of what is happening in the U.S. states regarding COVID-19 vaccination rules for employers.

The country is now in its third year dealing with the virus and the team at Lexis Nexis concluded the landscape of changing laws makes things especially difficult for employers. “This continuing stream of vaccine-related bills suggests that employers will need to be vigilant in order to stay in compliance with changing mandates. Further complicating matters for companies operating in multiple states is the potential that requirements could differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction,” the researchers wrote.

Here are some highlights from their report:

• More than 500 vaccine-related bills have been considered in 47 states, 30 of which have already been enacted in 10 states. Limits on employer vaccine mandates, from expanded exemptions to outright bans, figure prominently in that legislation.
• Already this year, at least 23 states have considered legislation that deals with religious and other exemptions for vaccine mandates imposed by private employers and other entities.
• At least 28 states have considered bills that would prohibit businesses and assorted government entities from requiring that entrants to their facilities be vaccinated.
• At least seven states — Arizona, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin — have considered bills that would establish liability in the event someone gets sick from a vaccine. Legislation in these states would make an employer liable if they required their workers to get a vaccination and one of those employees suffered a significant injury as a result.

Want to learn more? The National Council of State Legislatures has a database of bills that have been proposed in each U.S. state.