Key questions such as which effective Covid-19 protection measures can employers’ promote and adopt or what can employers do to encourage prevention in the workplace and overcome the different issues relating to vaccination are addressed.  Various documents such as a Covid-19 Visitors auto-declaration template and a concise Covid-19 Risk Assessment table are also made available in annex to the report. The IOE report  includes a reference to the ILO country policy responses tracker that compiles all the policies implemented by governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations in 188 countries and territories during the pandemic.

The ILO Director-General’s intervention during the IOE conference is included in the report where he points out that the ILO’s normative guidance gap on matters relating to vaccination and prevention issues, and calls for a formal tripartite dialogue to establish common thinking on these issues.

The IOE publication also advocates for employers to continue implementing a strategy that combines vaccination and general standard preventive health and safety measures, including through social dialogue. At the same time, employers must be aware of national and local regulations and be careful to sensitive issues such as dismissal or other sanctions for non-compliance to a vaccine mandate and all the discrimination issues.

Legal frameworks and basic regulations on vaccination and prevention are included in the document, along with and an annex with further explanations about different governmental positions on mandatory vaccination in various regions of the world and their national jurisdictions. It reports that, as of January 2022, only a few countries have issued a nation-wide mandate: citizens in Indonesia and residents in Turkmenistan have received mandatory vaccination orders and in Austria Covid-19 vaccination will become mandatory for everyone beginning 1 February 2022. Other countries have issued mandates depending on group ages, whereas some others have issued sectoral mandatory vaccination, either for healthcare workers, civil servants or travellers.

While, most developed countries are facing their 4th, 5th or even 6th wave with a resurgence of infections that is highly correlated with vaccine hesitancy, the report stresses that in other parts of the world, access to the vaccine remains insufficient, showing the need to increase global vaccination equity.

The guidance document includes the World Health Organization’s six elements to assist employers on decision making and key elements to consider in the event of a vaccination mandate as listed in their report from April 2021. ( (“COVID-19 and mandatory vaccination: Ethical considerations and caveats”). These elements are:

(1) necessity and proportionality

(2) sufficient evidence of vaccine safety

(3) vaccine efficacy and effectiveness

(4) sufficient supply

(5) public trust

(6) ethical process of decisionmaking

IOE expressed its support to fully respect the personal choice of any individual not to be vaccinated, as the aim of any IOE engagement should be to help workers/individuals make informed decisions. It is important to inform, educate, exchange on, and advocate for effective treatment, as well as to advocate for equal and fair access to treatments, medicines, and vaccinations for all.

IOE is monitoring the situation and will continue to update its response. It remains committed to assisting our global network with this ongoing crisis and navigating the way to recovery.