Despite overwhelming evidence of their efficacy and ability to prevent negative health outcomes, a movement continues to grow throughout the country against vaccines that prevent communicable diseases. Multiple state legislatures have passed laws in recent years that weaken requirements and expand exemptions from mandatory vaccine policies. Florida officials have announced their intention to become the first state to prohibit public schools from enforcing vaccine mandates, and it is quite possible that other states may copy this effort.
The movement against vaccine mandates raises significant concerns for people with disabilities, many of whom are immunocompromised, at a greater risk of harm from preventable diseases, and rely on herd immunity to maintain their health. Eliminating vaccine mandates also raises legal questions of whether public entities are complying with their obligations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These laws require state and local governments to make “reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability.” Whether the existence of a vaccine mandate is a necessary reasonable modification under the ADA, and whether the ADA preempts state laws that prohibit vaccine mandates, are thorny legal questions that require careful analysis.
In a new issue brief available to advocates by request, NHeLP examines whether and how the ADA may be used as a litigation tool against state and local governments’ efforts to prohibit vaccine mandates. The brief focuses on vaccine mandates in public schools, but the analysis may be applicable to any situations where a state or local government is refusing to implement a mandatory vaccination requirement. The brief examines ADA claims that advocates may want to advance to combat vaccine mandate prohibitions, along with the risks of pursing those claims. Recent efforts to use the ADA to combat prohibitions on mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic provide helpful lessons, and these cases are discussed in detail. The brief concludes with ideas and recommendations for advocates who may be contemplating a challenge to a vaccine mandate prohibition.
Please reach out to Steven Schmidt, [email protected], if you would like a copy of the issue brief. NHeLP is available to provide technical assistance to help advocates frame, plead, and defend disability discrimination claims that challenge a prohibition on vaccine mandates.
