Ask Jeff | Workers' Comp & Vaccine Mandates in the Workplace

Not only during this pandemic but throughout other times in recent years when outbreaks of other viruses and diseases have occurred, the following question has been asked frequently: “If employers are mandating workers to get the vaccine, could they (the employer) also be responsible for any side effects and if so, could it become a workers’ compensation case/ claim? Would it be covered?”

Other than the traditional “ it depends” on the facts of the claim, please note some comments and directions. This is such a great question, and this has been asked so many times over the years, with many of the “ viruses “ society has been exposed to. While mandating the vaccine certainly links it as a possible workers’ comp claim, any side effects would have to be a direct cause of the vaccine, which is always difficult to prove or connect.

An employee who experiences a bad reaction to a COVID-19 vaccination may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if the employer directed or encouraged the employee to have the vaccination. Some larger health care providers and manufacturers have been accepting vaccine reactions as workrelated since before the mandate. I think it would be a major legal hurdle if they weren’t covered, and I’m surprised there isn’t some federal or state mandate that directs the claims to be accepted if there’s medical support – like Gov. Evers did for healthcare workers early on during the current pandemic.

In talking with a few workers’ comp claim adjustors 1) If the employee is immuno-compromised or is prone to allergies, their reactions are worse and 2) the symptoms are VERY diverse. They have seen everything from body aches to varying severity of neurological problems with numbness in extremities, nausea, fatigue, etc. Most are not severe and resolve in a week or two, but some are quite disabling. We recently heard of one involving an employee who had an autoimmune disease that was dormant for a long time become active again causing personal injury to their body. The thing is that because this is so new, there is no body of evidence we can rely on to prove or disprove the reactions are from the vaccine. Whether the claim is accepted or not as compensable, the usage and application of IMEs remains crucial in determining compensability.

The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) is a federal program that may help pay the costs of medical care for people who have been seriously injured by certain medicines or vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

• A claim must be submitted to the CICP within one (1) year of receiving the vaccine.

• More information about the CICP is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/cicp/ or call 1-855-266-2427.

Send your questions over to Jeff, our Director of Agency Success, at info@iiaw.com.