Given the imminent approval of two and possibly a third COVID vaccine and establishment of a priority list for recipients, wide scale vaccination of workers in the food industry is anticipated during the first quarter of 2021. The question arises as to whether employers will be entitled to mandate vaccination to protect the entire workforce in a facility. Availability of a vaccine does not absolve employers from conforming to accepted preventive measures nor does it allow workers to neglect commonsense precautions to avoid infection.
There are no laws dealing specifically with COVID vaccination so policy should be based on current regulations relating to seasonal influenza vaccine. According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rulings, an employee may be exempted from mandatory vaccination if an exceptionality covered by the Americans with Disability Act is present. Employees may also be allowed to forego vaccination in terms of VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if receiving a vaccine violates religious beliefs. In these cases, an employer must provide additional PPE, change the work-station of the employee or allow work-from-home. Generally, the EEOC encourages employees to volunteer to receive a vaccine rather than having a mandate requiring 
administration. The CDC guidelines should serve as the basis for company policy with specific reference to critical industries including healthcare and presumably food production. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services have published an Interim Final Rule to facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccines. It is hoped that favorable publicity emphasizing the effectiveness and safety of vaccines will encourage uptake. Peer pressure among workers in a plant will be an important determinant of the willingness to be vaccinated and it is evident that obstacles to receiving a vaccine should be minimized.
The quicker that our nation can be immunized, the earlier we will be able to return to a “new normal”. It is axiomatic that vaccination alone will not necessarily bring an end to the pandemic. Even if more than 70 percent of our population are vaccinated, preventive measures including masking, social distancing and avoiding social gatherings will have be followed through most of 2021. Relaxation of precautions can be reviewed in the light of incidence rates in specific communities.