- As the Delta variant spreads, some of the biggest retailers avoid requiring vaccines for customers.
- Mandating vaccines might put employees charged with enforcing the rule in danger, according to CNN.
- Companies also lack technology to efficiently enforce mandates and public support.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Despite soaring virus cases and the Delta variant sweeping across the country, many major retailers aren't requiring customers to be vaccinated, partly out of fear that it will spark confrontations between employees and customers, CNN reported.
Frontline employees who would be in charge of enforcing vaccine requirements could be at risk of violence from angry customers amid widespread – but unfounded – fear and skepticism over COVID-19 vaccines. Retail workers have already endured violence and anger from customers while enforcing mask mandates, and in the most extreme instances, store employees have been killed by customers during disputes over mask requirements.
Businesses have already eased mask requirements – stores like McDonald's have required both customers and staff in high-transmission areas to wear masks, retailers like Walmart are only recommending that customers mask up.
"We want to stick with the message that strongly encourages everybody to get vaccinated, but don't want to create a situation where employees basically have a risk of physical assault, because it happened last year," Larry Lynch, senior vice president of science and industry for the National Restaurant Association, told CNN. "That's our biggest fear."
Only around half of Americans are vaccinated against COVID-19, which could mean that businesses would drive away customers if they enforced vaccine mandates. On top of vaccine fear and hesitancy, businesses would also have to cope with a lack of technology that would allow them to quickly see someone's vaccination status. Since there is no nationwide database containing people's COVID-19 vaccination records and many states have banned vaccine passports, practical issues over how to enforce vaccine requirements also present a barrier to businesses.
Read the full article about the barriers to mandating vaccines for customers at CNN.