By By Dan Hounsell

COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out across the nation, and employers hope widespread acceptance of the vaccines will help facilities return to operation soon. Some employers are going further than hoping, and they are meeting resistance.

A detention center officer in New Mexico recently filed a lawsuit over a workplace requirement to receive the coronavirus vaccine, the first lawsuit against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S, according to Bloomberg Law. The office sued a county manager and his supervisor. The officer’s attorney said he was told he would be fired for refusing inoculation. The complaint claims the county manager and supervisor violated his rights by making the vaccine a condition of employment for first responders unless reasonable accommodation has been approved.

On the healthcare side of the issue, Civitas Senior Living is the latest senior living owner and operator to announce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees, according to McKnight’s Senior Living. Mandating vaccination for the company’s 2,600 employees was imperative to protecting residents and employees and returning the senior living industry to pre-COVID normalcy, said Chief Operating Officer Misty Miller. All Civitas employees now are required to be fully vaccinated by May 1.