(February 23, 2021) Federal law prohibits employers and others from requiring vaccination with a Covid-19 vaccine distributed under an EUA
Even though the FDA granted emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in December 2020,
the clinical trials the FDA will rely upon to ultimately decide whether to license these vaccines
are still underway and are designed to last for approximately two years to collect adequate data
to establish if these vaccines are safe and effective enough for the FDA to license.

This means that an organization will likely be at odds with federal law if it requires its employees,
students or other members to get a Covid-19 vaccine that is being distributed under emergency use authorization.
State law often prohibits retaliating against an employee for refusing to participate in a violation of federal law.
Organizations that require Covid-19 vaccination in violation of federal law may face lawsuits
under these state laws not only to block the policy but also for damages and attorneys’ fees.
Such potentially costly lawsuits can be avoided by refraining from adopting policies
that require vaccination or penalize members for choosing not to be vaccinated.
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