According to a recent Gartner study, 46% of organizations plan to implement a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for their workforce where legal, while 36% continue to weigh the issue, and only 17% definitively say they will not. This indicates a sea change for businesses—in February, only 8% of organizations planned to implement such a mandate. Gartner’s newest findings follow increased vaccine availability, widespread vaccination efforts, growing data on the efficacy of COVID vaccines, updated OSHA regulations for vaccination and testing, and new local and federal requirements for public sector employees. “The new federal guidance, as well as the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta wave, have combined to shift executive opinion on vaccine mandates significantly since the beginning of the year,” said Chris Audet, senior director of research in the Gartner Legal & Compliance practice. “It is likely that we will see a clear majority of firms instituting mandates of some kind by the end of the year.”
To reduce risk while implementing and enforcing such requirements, Audet added, “Legal and compliance leaders will need to think through the implications of assuming responsibility for employee health data with related administrative work, along with policies to limit confrontation and disruptions related to noncompliant employees.”