Survey data suggest that roughly half of all US employers are not guaranteeing workers time off to get a COVID-19 vaccine or recover from its side effects. The situation is a major obstacle in the country’s fight against the pandemic: fears of medical complications and subsequent job loss have deterred millions of Americans from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

And yet so far, Congress and the Biden administration have refused to take even the most straightforward steps to address the problem, such as requiring employers to offer paid time off for vaccinations.

That failure may soon come to an end if the much-discussed $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill ends up passing. Democrats’ current framework for that legislation, which is being held up by nine conservative Democrats in the House, would create a “paid family and medical leave” program that could give workers the time off they need to get vaccinated.