Medical exemption for COVID vaccine: Few likely to qualify, doctors say as religious exemptions grow

CHICAGO (WLS) — Vaccine exemptions have gotten a hot-button matter as firms require vaccinations for employment. However are there any medical circumstances that will not enable somebody to get the COVID-19 vaccine attributable to its elements?

As demonstrated with some latest protests, worker vaccine mandates usually are not welcome by all staff. Whereas mandates are on the rise, so are medical exemption requests. However, medical doctors say with MRNA vaccines, there are virtually no medical circumstances that warrant a cross on the vaccine even for folks with compromised immune programs.

“It is simply the mRNA, there’s not something reside in there. It isn’t a full virus, the danger of growing an an infection to that, there’s none,” mentioned Dr. Manu Jain, Northwestern Medication Pulmonary Care.

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Jain mentioned a extreme allergic response is about the one medical situation that will doubtless qualify for the exemption.

“When you’ve got a extreme response after the primary one, you then may wish to abstain from the 2nd one, however you’d solely know that after you bought the primary vaccine,” he defined.

Non secular exemptions to the vaccine, slightly than medical, are what some employment attorneys say they’re seeing extra of as mandates enhance.

However, attorneys say spiritual exemptions are a bit trickier for employers to determine as a result of the legislation has but to be developed in that space but.

“They should focus on it with the particular person requesting the lodging,” mentioned Margo Wolf O’Donnell, co-chair Labor & Employment group at Benesch Regulation. “Is it actually a sincerely held spiritual perception, or is it merely a private perception that they’re attempting to slap on a faith?”

Wolf O’Donnell mentioned employers should observe the legislation and take every request case by case.

“These determinations are actually so factual, that is why an employer has to rigorously analyze them based mostly on their place of job and the actual job place as nicely,” Wolf mentioned.

And extra employers should make these troublesome selections as soon as President Biden’s vaccine mandate for firms with over 100 staff goes into impact.