Hawkeye Reporter

Iowa has a new law that goes against federal mandates for workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The law allows workers the ability to refuse to get vaccinated.

“Workers are facing a Jan. 4 deadline to be fully vaccinated against (coronavirus) or, in some cases, get tested weekly,” The Iowa State Bar Association wrote on Twitter. “But a new law in Iowa expands their ability to refuse the vaccine and keep their job or get unemployment benefits.”

There have been over 564,000 positive cases of coronavirus reported in Iowa.

The law protects employees that refuse to get vaccinated if they say it’s bad for their well-being or it goes against their beliefs, NPR reported Nov. 21.

The administration of President Joe Biden has issued a total of three vaccination mandates, NPR reported.

Employers do not know if they should follow federal or state rules, NPR reported.

“If they’re in a situation where they’re thinking about, ‘I need to leave a career that I had a personal calling for from when I was a child,’ Dec. 5 is coming right up,” Kevin Kincaid, Knoxville Hospital and Clinics CEO, said according to Iowa Public Radio. “And I would really like to be able to give them some clarity for the decisions that they’ll need to make.”

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry believes that the law will make it more difficult for Iowa employers to comply with federal rules and regulations, Iowa Public Radio reported.