Massage Clients, Vaccines, and Denial of Service

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COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card.

“Can I ask my clients if they have been vaccinated, or request proof of vaccination?”

by Karrie Osborn

This is the question we’ve been receiving pretty steadily from ABMP members over the past few months. And while this has yet to be tested in the courts, so far, experts say you can ask your clients about their vaccination status, as well as deny service to those who can’t provide proof of vaccination. One caveat—know the rules in your state because there could be state exceptions when it comes to denial of service.

According to Michele Goodwin, a professor of law at UC Irvine and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, a business can legally ask its customers for vaccination information. If the customer refuses to comply, the business can similarly refuse to provide service.1 Georgetown Law professor and public health expert Lawrence Gostin agrees. “It is lawful and ethical for a business to require proof of vaccination as a condition of working or getting service.”2

Author and pathology expert Ruth Werner explains further how this impacts the massage and bodywork profession: “Business owners are allowed to put reasonable safety-related restrictions on who receives their services. In this way, we can turn away clients who are drunk or high, because they themselves may be at risk, or may put MTs at risk. A COVID vaccine is a similar situation. An MT can make a case that it is a safety issue, because of the risk of exposure to themselves, to other clients that come into that space, and to anyone else (including young children) that MT can contact.”

Remember, it is NOT considered a violation of HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to ask clients if they have been vaccinated. HIPAA is actually a pretty narrow and specific law. It doesn’t restrict or forbid anyone from asking anything. Nor does it restrict or forbid anyone from demanding proof about a medical condition. Instead, HIPAA provides the rules health-care providers must adhere to as part of their requirement to protect the private health information of patients/clients. For example, it prevents a physician from telling MTs anything about their client’s medical information, unless that client specifically gives the physician authorization to do so.

So, like the other questions on a massage therapy health intake form about medical conditions, surgeries, medication use, etc., asking if a client has been vaccinated does not break a HIPAA rule. However, what you do with that information is another story. The answers to those questions are protected under HIPAA.

As reported by CapRadio, some have pointed to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a means for allowing unvaccinated customers to skirt the vaccination rules established by a business. But that doesn’t wholly apply in this circumstance. “The ADA may limit the ability to discriminate against people who have real contraindications, but it has to be an actual disability or limit [and] if there is one, the person is entitled to a reasonable accommodation, not necessarily to just walk in,” says Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC Hastings and a member of the Vaccine Working Group on Ethics and Policy.3 The ADA, experts say, does not provide protections for a person who just doesn’t want to be vaccinated.

Still, it’s important to check with your state for its particular regulations regarding denial of service relative to vaccination status. Several states, including Florida, Montana, and Texas, have issued executive orders limiting private businesses from requiring proof of the vaccine status of its customers. Know your state’s rules.

Notes

1. Sasha Hupka, “No, It Is Not Illegal for Businesses to Require Proof of Vaccination,” CapRadio (May 25, 2021), www.capradio.org/articles/2021/05/25/no-it-is-not-illegal-for-businesses-to-require-proof-of-vaccination.

2. Ali Swenson, “Federal Law Allows Businesses to Ask for Proof of Vaccination,” Associated Press (May 21, 2021), www.apnews.com/article/fact-checking-533636796046.

3. Hupka, “No, It Is Not Illegal for Businesses to Require Proof of Vaccination.”

Here are some other resources on this subject:

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Comments

I would love to have some guidance regarding a wait period post-vaccines for clients. I've heard from multiple people, clients should not come in for massage for at least 2-3 weeks post-vaccine or booster. Honestly, this should be the case regardless of which vaccine or booster (measles, covid, etc)

Once vaccines came out, I created a vaccine with willingness to present vaccine card policy.  I have a copy of mine on display in my office.  I have created a secure client pod and have received enough referrals for an active private practice.  I now require proof of booster with much of the same client base complying.  My primary focus is to ensure clients can trust and feel secure with me.  I have lost only an small number of clients that were not regularly booking anyway.  With the omicron variant, I have closed my practice to new clients for the time being.

My practice is inside a Psychotherapy Collective of 30+ Psychotherapists, as well alongside and refer to other Bodywork/Massage Therapists. What is the current recommendation for respecting individual choice to vaccinate or not all while enforcing vaccine and testing responsibility i.e. inquiring of and documenting recent COVID test results regardless to vaccination status. Do you recommend therapists be transparent with referring practitioners about their vaccination status? 

I have yet to reopen my practice as majority of the referring psychotherapy practitioners are continuing to telework. I'm considering how to proceed with opening my practice to the public, which for 13 years has not been my marketing model. 

I'd love to see a webinar with Ruth Warner and other well informed intellectuals who have the most updated research literature surrounding the topic of COVID-19 and Bodywork/Massage Therapy

Is it even safe to give someone who has had a vaccine a massage given the clotting issue?

Given that the Supreme court has ordered Pfizer to release the first 500 pages of their data on the experimental mRNA vaccine, we can go to their website and inform ourselves of the risks. Having read them (especially pages 30 -39, I encourage my colleagues to make informed decisions based on their own understanding based in critical thinking, and not to wait to be told what to do. 

respectfully 

AC