Today’s entry: One question no one wants to address including my employer (is if someone has had an) adverse reaction to vaccine who is financially responsible? My company has mandated but will not answer? They were so afraid of being sued if someone caught covid at work. But no worries if someone has a horrible reaction and let’s face it some have died.

Bottom Line: I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible. If indeed this is your employer’s policy/rationale for vaccine mandates, they're either clueless or they’re trying to make excuses for implementing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. I’ve increasingly been hearing from listeners who have similar but different stories about justifications for vaccine mandates that aren’t rooted in law or reality. I suspect that as we’re now potentially within two weeks of having OSHA implement Biden’s get vaccinated or get fired mandate, some employers are looking to get out ahead of it and are using false information to justify it.

No one is financially responsible if someone has an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. The first major determination regarding liability protection during the pandemic came from the US Department of Health and Human Services in the earliest days of impact in the United States. Specifically, in March of 2020, this was the determination, the Secretary issued a PREP Act Declaration covering COVID-19 tests, drugs, and vaccines providing liability protections to manufacturers, distributors, states, localities, licensed healthcare professionals, and others identified by the Secretary (qualified persons) who administer COVID-19 countermeasures. The Declaration has been amended several times to expand liability protections, including prior amendments to cover licensed healthcare professionals who cross state borders and federal response teams. The purpose of the removal of liability from every tool in the pandemic tool kit was to encourage as many manufactures as possible to develop and manufacture all related products. It was a huge success, capped off by the record-setting development of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year. All approved vaccines, including those with only emergency authorized use, remain immune from liability for the companies which manufacture them and all authorized personal who deploy them.

As a former business owner who had dozens of employees and had to ensure compliance with OSHA guidelines. There’s simply no excuse for employers not being aware of these policies. But further to your point, if your employer is attempting to use these excuses, send them this story with the direct links in it to these federal policies. If they’re indeed misguided, they can correct their policy accordingly. And if they’re being disingenuous, you’ll know rather quickly.

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com

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