Several states and cities require government and health care workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Although the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private companies was blocked by the Supreme Court, many states and cities are enforcing their own vaccine requirements. Workers who defy local vaccine mandates make up a tiny percentage of the overall public workforce, but that still amounts to thousands of city and state workers who will soon lose their jobs as vaccination deadlines quickly approach.
In New York on Friday, more than 3,000 employees face termination for not complying with the city’s mandate. The total number of New Yorkers at risk of losing their job represents less than 1% of the city’s 370,000 municipal workers. A few hundred protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday and took their complaints about the mandate to City Hall. More protests are planned for Friday.
In a press conference Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams remained firm in his commitment to the vaccine mandate, saying “People must be vaccinated if they are New York City employees. Everyone understood that, and we have to follow that.”
New York City residents generally support the vaccine mandates. A new study from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy found that more than two-thirds of New Yorkers support government vaccine requirements. Most local requirements, including New York City’s, allow workers to be rehired once they are vaccinated.
Los Angeles also fired its first police officer this week for not agreeing to vaccinate and is struggling with a sheriff refusing to enforce the vaccine mandate on deputies.
Along with state and local mandates for government, health care and education workers, many major companies and colleges require COVID vaccinations for their employees and students, and municipalities are still enforcing vaccine mandates for everyone in indoor public spaces.
More than 910,000 people in the US have died from COVID-19, and vaccination rates have slowed despite the surge of the omicron variant. About 81% of Americans age 5 and older have had at least one dose as of Feb. 10.
Read on to learn more about who’s still required to get COVID-19 vaccines and why. Also, get the latest on vaccines for kids under 5, the effectiveness of booster shots and everything we know about long COVID now.
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Many states and cities require vaccines
Several states, including Washington and Massachusetts, require vaccines for health care workers, government employees or education workers. Some states like California and New Jersey mandate vaccines for all three groups.
Denver, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona are two of many local governments that have also instituted vaccine mandates, primarily for city workers. These mandates have resulted in job losses for a very small percentage. In Denver, 23 employees, or 0.1% of the city workforce, lost their jobs for not complying with the local vaccine mandate. A few states and cities also allow frequent COVID-19 testing as an alternative to vaccination requirements.
Many cities like Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia require vaccine proof for inside dining, gyms and other indoor activities. Los Angeles County requires proof of vaccination to enter indoor bars, nightclubs, breweries and wineries, and requires people age 12 and older to be fully vaccinated before entering any public indoor spaces.
Current federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements
- The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large private companies with more than 100 employees has been withdrawn after being blocked by the Supreme Court.
- As of Jan. 31, the Department of Health and Human Services requires vaccinations for teachers in Head Start and schools run by the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Indian Education.
- Workers in health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, including hospitals and home health agencies, are still required to be fully vaccinated. The Supreme Court decided to allow the mandate for health care workers.
- Individuals applying to become lawful permanent US residents must be fully vaccinated, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- The vaccine mandate for federal workers and employees of contractors that do business with the federal government has been blocked in district court, but it hasn’t been withdrawn.
Companies with vaccine mandates
Companies that have implemented plans for mandatory vaccinations include airlines, cruise lines, concert halls, health care facilities and restaurants. Some of the requirements may include mask and testing guidelines, and some may only apply to employees traveling internationally, working in the office or having face-to-face interactions with customers. If any of these apply to you, check with your employer for more details.
Here are some of the companies that have announced vaccination requirements for employees:
- Apple
- AT&T
- DoorDash
- Ford
- General Electric
- IBM
- Lyft
- McDonald’s
- Microsoft
- NBCUniversal
- Netflix
- Salesforce
- Southwest Airlines
- Tyson Foods
- Uber
- United Airlines
- Walgreens
- Walmart
Vaccine requirements for US military and police
In August, the Pentagon announced (PDF) that all 1.3 million active-duty service members will need to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The directive covers all active-duty members of the Armed Forces or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard. There are some exemptions, including one for religious reasons, but they aren’t granted frequently.
In January, the US Army announced that 96% of active Army members had been vaccinated, and that no soldiers had been “involuntarily separated” due to the vaccine mandate. It also said that “commanders have relieved a total of six regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,073 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order.”
On Feb. 2, the Army said that it would “immediately” begin discharging soldiers who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19, though there are no official statistics yet on how many have been affected. Before COVID-19, members of the military were already required to get at least nine other vaccines — and possibly up to 17 in total — depending on their deployment locations.
On Wednesday, Military.com reported that 700 service members total have been discharged from the military for refusing to vaccinate against COVID-19.
Police officers in the cities and states with mandates for government workers are required to be vaccinated, although some locales offer frequent testing as an alternative.
In response to local laws, police associations have come out openly against vaccine mandates. In Oregon, police and firefighter associations sued Gov. Kate Brown to block a state-level vaccine requirement, although that suit was later rejected by the state Supreme Court. A federal judge also dismissed a similar lawsuit to stop a vaccine mandate for police officers in Los Angeles.
Many colleges and schools have vaccine mandates
As early as spring 2021, colleges and universities were adding vaccine requirements for students and faculty. Private universities like Rutgers were among the first to institute vaccine mandates, and both public and private schools across the country soon followed suit.
More than 900 colleges and universities are currently requiring vaccines for students who attend in-person classes — over 300 of those schools also require boosters for all eligible students.
In October, California became the first state to mandate vaccines for students in primary public schools. All students, elementary through high school, will be required to get the shot. Nine states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have vaccination requirements for staff in K-12 schools, though only Louisiana has joined California in requiring students to be vaccinated.
Some cities and states have their own vaccine requirements.
Natalie Weinstein/CNET
Other vaccines that are mandated in the US
A federal vaccine mandate is not new. In 1977, for example, the federal government began an initiative to vaccinate up to 90% of the nation’s children against seven diseases:
- Diphtheria
- Measles
- Mumps
- Pertussis
- Poliomyelitis
- Rubella
- Tetanus
All 50 states require specific vaccines for students, with exemptions varying from state to state. Most school requirements follow the CDC’s vaccine schedule for children.
States banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates
At least 20 states with Republican governors, including Arkansas, Florida and Texas, prohibit proof-of-vaccination requirements. That means businesses, schools and local government institutions can’t enforce a vaccine mandate. (The same goes for requiring face masks.) The prohibitions went into effect through either legislation or executive orders.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s request to temporarily block the vaccine mandate for federal contractors was granted by a federal judge in November.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order in October banning all state entities, including private employers, from enforcing vaccine mandates.
Some governors are trying to prevent private employers, as well as the state, from requiring vaccines, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. Some are also trying to prevent the use of vaccine passports, which show proof that you’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.
For more information, here’s what to know about breakthrough infections among the fully vaccinated.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.