TOPIC: Workplace COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
- Include: a thesis statement (clearly stated problem statement), in-text citations, a reference list of at least 5 credible sources.
- Remember to incorporate the Health Policy Analysis.
Please find below a brief outline_ Please developed like the sample submitted
Introduction
- What is the policy and who does it apply to
- Problem statement
- Contention
- Arguments against it
- Stakeholders
- employers
- employees
iii. pharm. companies
- politicians
- Policy Analysis
- Conclusion
- References
Sample Answer
Introduction
Workplace Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate
The workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandate is an action plan that seeks to protect both employees and employers in the workplace. The policy requires all employees to be vaccinated unless an employee qualifies for an exemption. Exemptions are granted to those with certain medical conditions and based on religious beliefs. A person is fully vaccinated two weeks receiving their second dose or two weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine depending on the type of vaccine. The newly released rules provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which applies to business with 100 or more employees, requires companies to ensure their works are fully vaccinated by January 4 (The National Academy for State Health Policy, 2021). Unvaccinated workers are required to wear masks and provide COVID-19 tests weekly.
Problem statement
The vaccine mandates seek to reduce infections and mortality rates as new updates on COVID-19 indicate that the delta variant is more infectious and leads to increased transmissibility compared to other variants. Vaccination decreases the risk of being infected and suffering severe symptoms.
Contention
Arguments Against It
Major arguments have been based on whether the workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates are lawful. The mandates have been viewed as some as misuse of power. For example, the mandate offered to companies by OSHA has been challenged in court by some employers and Republican-controlled states based on being unlawful as it exceeds the authority that OSHA has been legitimately granted by Congress. The plaintiffs argue that the agency is an occupational safety organization and not a public health agency hence a limited jurisdiction to provide protection to workers. The adverse impact of the mandates, such as the risk of job termination for employees unwilling to get vaccinated, is also a reason against the implementation of the mandates (Rothstein et al., 2021).
Stakeholders
Employers
Employers have the responsibility to increase vaccine uptake among the employee by establishing supportive policies and equitable practices. Potential benefits of the vaccine mandates include a healthy workforce, increased protection of customers, clients, and visitors, reduced cases of absence in the workplace, increased productivity, and improved morale. Employers have two options to vaccinate their workforce. They include on-site at the place or offsite in the community. Employers should utilize an on-site vaccination program if they have a large number of employees, unpredictable work schedules, employees with limited access to vaccination, many unvaccinated employees, and have the ability to enroll with the jurisdiction’s immunization program as a vaccine provider.
Employers in the private sector have the freedom to use any hiring criteria or impose any terms unless it is a violation of state or federal law. America with Disability Act is essential in employee vaccination as employees may forfeit the vaccine on the basis of adverse impact on their health. However, the employer can mandate vaccination in the prevention of a direct threat to others. The National Labour Relations Act requires employers in the private sector to bargain with the union before making any unilateral changes (Rothstein et al., 2021).
Employees
Employees have a duty to comply with the mandates by getting vaccinated. Potential benefits that employees will obtain from the vaccine include prevention from COVID-19 infection and long-term complications, reduced absence from work and visits to the hospital, decreased cost associated with COVID-190 medical care, increasing protection of family members from infection, and increased morale. Vaccine recipients perceive personal protection as the major benefit of vaccination, while the added benefit is the potential of vaccines to generate herd immunity. Employees should adequately equip themselves with proper information pertaining to the level of control employers have in their choice to get vaccinated, such as the existing exemptions. They should show awareness of their rights, such as the violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employees can be excluded from the workplace, especially employees in contact with the public, if they fail to be vaccinated. The employees are entitled to reasonable accommodation, such as using personal protective equipment or working remotely if they cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons and religious beliefs. Reasonable accommodation may, however, not be possible if it would cause the employer undue hardships (Rothstein et al., 2021).
Pharmaceutical Companies
The mandate increases the demand for vaccines; hence the pharmaceutical companies have to increase their supply to meet the demand. Pharmaceutical companies have produced more than 250 vaccine candidates with the support of the national government (Binagwaho et al., 2021). With mandatory vaccination, the companies expect to supply more vaccines. A pharmaceutical company such as Pfizer, even with a price of $20 per dose, expects sales of the vaccine to total $15 billion with a profit margin of about 30% by the end of the year. The companies expect more sales over the years as it might become necessary for people to boost immunity. The companies are bound by four ethical principles in manufacturing and distribution. The principles include optimizing vaccine production, including the development, testing, manufacturing, sustainability, fair distribution accountability (Binagwaho et al., 2021). The companies, therefore, have put in place necessary resources to ensure adherence to relevant ethical and legal issues to minimize legal and ethical consequences that might face the firms. Competition has also increased. For example, Moderna is a relatively new pharmaceutical company whose products were approved recently but have had a significant impact on the market, with shares going up by 187% over the last 12 months.
