What if my contractor is an anti-vaxxer?
When your home repairs become an anti-masker, anti-vaccination debate
The anti-vaxxer conversation is frustrating, especially for two people with opposing views. On a day-to-day basis, it may be easier to dodge the topic of coronavirus and vaccines altogether until it’s unavoidable. For example, the anti-vaccination conversation will matter far more for a doctor’s appointment than it would for hiring a gardener. The latter profession is in an outside space where you two don’t have to come within a 6-foot distance of each other. The former profession is constantly touching you in an enclosed room.
Although there are mixed opinions regarding HIPAA rights and asking health care professionals if they’re vaccinated, it is not illegal to ask any person, including a doctor or dentist, if they’re vaccinated. (They do not have to answer though, and you may have to find another health care professional if they choose to follow their privacy rights.)
But what should homeowners do when they want to hire home repair contractors who may or may not be vaccinated?
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This came up recently while I was talking to an extermination company I hired one year ago. It never occurred to me that the exterminators weren’t all vaccinated, primarily because they were such sticklers for wearing masks and staying a 6-foot distance away. Veterinarians and exterminators both work in industries wear the rabies risk considerably goes up, so I came to the naive conclusion, “What’s one more vaccine among many?” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Persons in the rabies enzootic areas are considered to be in the frequent-risk category and should have a serum sample tested for rabies antibody every 2 years.”
So I was a bit puzzled when my very thorough, professional and top-notch Customer Service exterminator bluntly said, “I don’t like people telling me what to do! And I’m terrified of needles. I don’t even have a rabies shot. I exercise. I think I’m pretty healthy.”