Now that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has begun, with millions of healthcare workers among the first to be inoculated, employers are starting to mull over whether to require workers to get the vaccine. Most employers want to (in fact, they are obligated to) provide a safe environment for their employees and customers, and mandatory vaccinations may seem like a sure-fire way of limiting their exposure to the virus.

Despite some federal protections from the stimulus bill passed in late December — employers could face legal liability if someone gets sick from COVID because they didn’t take appropriate steps to protect people. On the other hand, employers who mandate vaccination against COVID-19 may also face workers’ compensation claims if the injections give rise to severe reactions or prolonged illness.

Those workers’ compensation implications have been explored in an article published on January 6 in Business Insurance.

While most U.S. companies have a right to mandate vaccinations, the aforementioned workers’ compensation implications, along with numerous cultural, political and legal considerations will likely keep them from doing so, according to a recent article published by Reuters.

Among the cultural considerations employers must heed is the mood of the country’s populace with regard to the vaccine. According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in September, about half of U.S. adults say they definitely or probably would not get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were available at that time. However, after two vaccines for the coronavirus were approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a December Pew poll found that intent to get the vaccine had increased dramatically, with 60 percent of Americans stating that they would likely get the vaccine if it were available today.