CHAMBERSBURG – With some companies mandating their employees be vaccinated and schools like Dickinson in Carlisle requiring incoming students to be vaccinated in the fall, there’s not a lot of legal recourse for people who don’t want the needle jab.
There may be some exceptions to the requirement, but that will likely be the only way to get around the mandates.
Representative Paul Schemel talked about it with Pat Ryan and Michele Jansen on First News.
Schemel said, “Schools for a long time, required vaccinations. That’s nothing new. There have often been exceptions so those individuals that don’t want to be vaccinated usually take advantage of the exceptions and they still can. People, employment-wise, if you’re an at-will employee, the employer can make you wear a hat if they want. They can make you do any number of things that are reasonable and legal, including be vaccinated if you work in a health care facility. Most employers are not doing that, they might encourage their employees to do it.”
The real murky water comes with the schools that are state-run, be it elementary, secondary or college level.
Schemel said, “They have in the past had vaccination requirements. There are exceptions. What’s different this time is in the past the vaccinations that have been required have always been approved by the FDA. The current vaccine is not. It’s approved under a temporary approval. It’s never been imposed upon the population at large. From a legal perspective it’s kind of murky as to whether they can require this vaccine or not. I tell folks, I personally have been vaccinated. I’m comfortable with that. You are individuals with individual rights. You can choose to be vaccinated or not be vaccinated. The private industry can require you, that’s their prerogative to do. Public schools I think in this case, legally, I think they would not be able to sustain that in court, but it is an open legal issue because this is the first vaccine of this nature.”
