Now that the FDA has fully approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine and President Biden has urged companies to require vaccination, many leaders will grapple with what to do. In making their decisions, there’s a larger societal calculation they should consider: the role their organization can play in either normalizing or delegitimizing getting vaccinated.
Why Business Leaders Need to Mandate the Covid-19 Vaccine
It sends a clear message that vaccinations are safe, effective, and a social norm.
September 03, 2021
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Summary.
To bring the pandemic under control, almost everyone needs to come to see getting vaccinated as the unquestioned, right thing to do for themselves and for others. What business leaders decide about Covid-19 vaccine mandates will go a long way toward fostering the social norms that can either mitigate or exacerbate this pandemic. When a company mandates Covid-19 vaccinations, the normative information they provide is that these vaccinations are safe and effective and that getting vaccinated is widely accepted and done. As more companies mandate vaccines, over time this becomes the shared understanding, and getting vaccinated becomes the default choice for employees and customers. Conversely, when companies don’t mandate vaccination, it delegitimizes the Covid-19 vaccines by suggesting that the science is unsettled and that waiting to get vaccinated is prudent. By establishing and diffusing social norms that uphold science, company vaccine mandates can help get the pandemic under control.