Vaccine Update: DOJ Memorandum Supports Employers’ Right to Mandate

Growing numbers of private businesses and public entities have announced policies requiring employees and others to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment or as a condition of access to facilities or services. A recent memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), affirms that employers may lawfully require employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Some legal experts had argued that employers and other organizations may not lawfully mandate COVID-19 vaccines that have been only approved for use under an emergency use authorization (EUA) as opposed to full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Commentators and legal advisers have been divided over whether the EUA approval precludes mandating the vaccine.

The DOJ memorandum, titled “Whether Section 564 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Prohibits Entities from Requiring the Use of a Vaccine Subject to an Emergency Use Authorization,” opined that private businesses and public entities are not prohibited from mandating COVID-19 vaccines that have only received approval for use under an EUA. Click here to read more about the memorandum and its legal implications.