The waiver doesn t protect us from any liability we re still going to be responsible if there s exposure however, it lessens the liability because it shows that we did offer the vaccine. He said that even if an employee signs a waiver, he or she can later decide to take the vaccine. Birmingham also understands the costs associated with someone suffering from Hepatitis B personally, professionally and financially. When you look at the expense to the city regarding an employee who has contracted Hepatitis B, you must consider time away from work as well as medical expenses. When you add the two, it can become very expensive.
Treatment is long and drawn out.
It s not something that just goes away. I would advise any municipality even if they can t do everybody to at least start with a small group, such as the medics and EMTs and then work around to other at-risk employees. I think it s important particularly for municipalities since we re supposed to be organizations of compassion that we show we do make every effort to protect our employees. If money is a concern, what you need to show is that, even though we can t vaccinate everybody, we are making an effort. Jeff Downes, Risk Manager for the City of Montgomery, echoes those sentiments.