COVID-19 vaccinations are ramping up, and employers are reviewing the risks and rewards of bringing their workforce back into the office.
But how fast will companies want to move in that direction?
"We’re in a situation that businesses are reopening, companies are calling people back," said Dr. Sheldon Jacobson, Professor of Computer Science, Director of the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory and Founding Director of the Bed Time Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He was a guest on Monday’s "Ask An Expert" on KCBS Radio.
"We’re in a transition period right now and we aren’t at the final point," he said. "We’re not finished, but we’re starting to think about how we bring buildings back, how we bring back our employees. How do we, in fact, get back to something that looked like what we had in March 2020 and before the so-called new normal, but do it in a safer manner."
Vaccines and requiring them are a different story, it seems.
Because all three vaccines available in the U.S. were approved by the Food and Drug Administration using the emergency authorization mandate, they’re very difficult to mandate for returning employees, Dr. Jacobson explained. Additionally, recent guidance offered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said mandatory vaccination programs technically aren’t prohibited but also must account for legal nuances.
"If we want to cross that line into requiring people to have it, I think this is an individual choice based on organizations, companies, schools, states…to make that decision," he said of the legal boundaries.
The ultimate goal, Dr. Jacobson added, is to reduce the mutations of the virus as it spreads. "There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. You really have to look at different populations to make that decision."
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