Do Volunteers Need to Be Vaccinated? Flu, COVID & Your Duty of Care

Should volunteers be required to get a flu shot or stay up to date on vaccines? A balanced look at the data, the debate, exemptions, and how to handle it respectfully.

It's a fair question — and a genuinely debated one. Should the volunteers who hold babies in your nursery, coach youth teams, or sit with seniors in memory care be required to stay up to date on vaccines like the flu shot? Here's a balanced look at the evidence and how thoughtful programs handle it.

The case for it: the people served are the most vulnerable

The strongest argument is the data. Influenza and COVID-19 disproportionately harm the very young and the very old — the groups volunteers most often serve. Infants under six months can't be vaccinated at all and rely on the healthy adults around them (a strategy public-health experts call "cocooning"). Long-term care facilities accounted for roughly 21% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths. See the full statistics, with 24 sources →

Vaccinating the healthy adults around vulnerable people is exactly why many healthcare and long-term-care settings ask staff to document their flu vaccination. Volunteers do much of the same close-contact work.

Requiring vaccination raises real considerations. Some volunteers have medical or religious reasons they can't or won't be vaccinated, and the ADA, GINA, and Title VII require you to consider exemptions and reasonable accommodations. Access and cost can be barriers too. A blanket mandate applied without flexibility can alienate good volunteers and create legal exposure.

A middle path most programs land on

You don't have to choose between "mandate everything" and "ask nothing." The approach that works for most nonprofits is to request immunization records as one caring step of onboarding, offer clear medical and religious exemptions, provide accommodations, and keep the information private and separate from any background check. It protects the people you serve while respecting your volunteers.

Not legal advice. Whether you can require vaccination — and how — depends on your state, your role, and the setting. Consult your own counsel before requiring or acting on immunization information.

Make it easy and free

If you decide to ask, VolunteerBadge makes it simple: volunteers attach a verified SMART Health Card during their application at no extra cost, we verify it automatically, and it's kept separate from the background check. See why immunizing volunteers matters →