Employer-Mandated Vaccination for COVID-19
When the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to grant emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first two vaccines for COVID-19, the United States’ response to the pandemic entered a new phase. Initially, the greatest challenge is having enough doses of vaccine and administering them to all who want it. Yet even while many wait expectantly for their turn to be vaccinated, a significant minority of Americans are hesitant. Lack of information or misinformation about the vaccine, a long-standing and well-entrenched antivaccination movement, distrust of public health officials, and political polarization have left many people ambivalent or opposed to vaccination. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation taken in late November and early December 2020, 27% of respondents surveyed stated that they would “probably” or “definitely” not be willing to be vaccinated.1 Reflecting the sharp partisan divide that has characterized views about the pandemic, Democrats (86%) were far more likely than Republicans (56%) to be vaccinated. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 4, 2021: e1–e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306166 )