Since the COVID-19 vaccination was made available to the public in late 2020, the topic of vaccination has been widely discussed across the country including in the daily news, by governments and agencies, in the courts, in communities, and in the workplace. From the very beginning, federal, state, and local governments/agencies have engaged in campaigns to encourage vaccination; passed laws mandating vaccination in the workplace, public places, government buildings, and elsewhere; and incentivized vaccination. Indeed, President Biden’s Administration made COVID-19 vaccination a predominant part of its national strategy to combat the pandemic. 

Workplace regulators recently extended California’s COVID-19 pandemic regulations, including some revisions that could negatively impact the labor shortage. Some business groups have criticized these changes, while organizations supporting workers in the state have supported them.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday, November 4 announced a new emergency temporary standard to protect more than 84 million workers from the spread of the coronavirus on the job. Employers with 100 or more employees have until Jan. 4 to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated.