COVID Vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer are both expected to be offered very soon in Indiana, Illinois, and across the country to prevent infection with the Coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine and a similar green light is expected to be given for Moderna’s COVID vaccine shortly. For details, read “Coronavirus vaccines compared: What to know about shots from Moderna and Pfizer, from safety to side effects,” written by Hilary Brueck and Andrew Dunn and published by Business Insider on December 16, 2020.
Can Employers Force Workers to Get a COVID Vaccine?
The legal right for an employer to demand an employee get vaccinated with one of these new COVID vaccines is uncharted territory under both state and federal law. The Coronavirus Pandemic has created an unprecedented situation where vaccines have been developed and released for public use after a matter of months in testing for safety, not years as is the usual protocol.
Federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), are all expected to provide guidance to companies and businesses on requirements for worker COVID vaccinations.
Meanwhile, how fast that decision is made by the employer will depend upon the industry. Those providing health care services are scheduled to receive the new COVID vaccines much faster than those in non-essential lines of work, for example. Accordingly, hospitals and nursing homes may be issuing employee requirements for vaccination within a matter of days or weeks. For more, read “Can Employers Mandate COVID-19 Vaccinations for Their Workers?” written by Colin Fluxman and published in Sun News on December 14, 2020.
It is predicted that employers in both Indiana and Illinois will mandate that their employees get the COVID Vaccine when it becomes available to them.
Workers Concerned About Getting COVID Vaccine
However, workers in these initial COVID vaccine groups may be concerned about getting these novel vaccinations. It is reported that health care workers at both hospitals and nursing homes will refuse to take the vaccine, as suggested by both the country’s largest healthcare worker union (1999 SEIU) and the American Nurses Foundation. For details, read “After 110K virus deaths, nursing homes face vaccine fears,” by Bernard Condon and Matt Sedensky and published by the Associated Press on December 14, 2020.
Workers across the country may not want to be among the first in the nation to get the COVID Vaccine. They may risk dismissal for doing so, and then may investigate their rights under state or federal law for wrongful termination.
What about the workers that do agree to take these new vaccines? They may circumvent any backlash from the employer by compliance with a new COVID Vaccine policy, but what if in the coming weeks or months they suffer bodily injury as a result?
Worker’s Compensation Claims Based upon COVID Vaccines in Indiana and Illinois
Whether or not a worker in our part of the country can file for bodily injury damages against their employer will depend upon the specific worker’s compensations laws established under the state laws of Indiana and Illinois. The worker’s compensation schemes in the two states are different, for details see our earlier discussions in:
- Workers Compensation in Indiana and Illinois: Work-Related Injuries and the Fight Against Corporate Greed
- COVID-19 Workers’ Compensation Claims: Illinois versus Indiana
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims.
As a general rule, a worker who suffers physical harm as a result of getting the COVID Vaccine will have to establish with admissible evidence that (1) there is an “injury” as that is defined under the state statute; and (2) this injury arose out of, or in the course of, his or her employment.
For workers getting the Coronavirus vaccine at the employer’s request or demand, it may be argued that the vaccination benefited the company or business and in serving the business’ efforts, would come within the purview of the state’s worker’s compensation scheme.
As for what these bodily injuries might be, and whether or not these vaccine-related injuries might prove fatal, is unknown. Representatives of Pfizer and Moderna assure the general public that these innovative vaccines are safe and effective; nevertheless, only time will confirm these assurances.
From a personal injury advocacy perspective, drug companies are notorious for placing their products out in the marketplace only to have them revealed as dangerous and/or deadly. For more, read:
- Roche and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Caught Not Reporting Bad News and Adverse Reactions to Their Drug Products to the Regulatory Agencies: We Must Remember Drugs Are Products Sold for Profit. Lots of Profit.
- Dateline NBC Hansen Expose of FDA Drug Testing: Overseas Drug Trials Aren’t Trustworthy Which Means Maybe Your Prescription Drugs Aren’t Either
- Yazmin Birth Control Pill Claims: Another Yazmin Victim Wins Injury Verdict This Week; Dangerous Drug Still Being Prescribed in USA
- GranuFlo or Naturalyte: Two Kidney Dialysis Products Known to Cause Death, Subject to FDA Class 1 Recall and Growing Number of Lawsuits: Growing Number of Victims of GranuFlo or Naturalyte Have Product Damages, Wrongful Death Claims.
Vaccine Injuries and the Vaccine Manufacturers: Immunity from Liability
Some may question whether or not legal claims for injuries or death resulting from the COVID Vaccines can be asserted under state defective product or product liability laws. Ordinarily, a drug company that manufacturers or distributes a drug that proves harmful or fatal can be held by the victim and his loved ones to a legal liability for the consequences.
This is not true for the COVID Vaccine, generally speaking. As a precondition for rushing to create the novel vaccines, drug companies have been given specific legal shields against any subsequent injury claims.
In April 2020, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (“PREP Act”), was updated to state that these companies are granted immunity from suit with the only exception being if the victim’s death or serious physical injury can be shown with admissible evidence to be the result of the drug company’s “willful misconduct.” For more, read, “Drug Companies Continue to Shed Liability for Rushed Coronavirus Treatments,” written by Sharon Lerner and published by The Intercept on August 28, 2020.
COVID Vaccine Injury Claims in Indiana and Illinois
As the COVID Vaccine rollout begins in December 2020, it is unknown whether or not there will be any significant bodily injuries resulting from these new vaccinations as created and delivered by two or more drug manufacturers in the coming months. The hope is that these COVID Vaccines are safe and effective.
However, for those workers in Indiana and Illinois who are forced to get a COVID Vaccine by their employer and thereafter do suffer severe bodily injuries as a result, it is important to know that they may have legal claims to assert under the worker’s compensation schemes of their state. They may not, however, have legal claims against the drug maker who created the vaccine itself unless they can demonstrate the manufacturer’s “willful misconduct.”
If you or a loved one is concerned about injuries resulting from the COVID vaccine, then it is wise to investigate if you have legal recourse for your harm. These are unprecedented times. Please be careful out there!
