The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to substantial harm in the United States as a direct result of the disease and indirectly as a result of the socio-economic impacts of the disease on behavior change and policies established to limit the spread of the disease. Several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and rolled out (Barouch, 2022). Rapid vaccine uptake is critical to mitigating the harms of the disease. However, there is hesitancy to take these vaccines, which are estimated to increase mortality impact eight times higher than in countries without hesitancy. (Cardenas, 2022). Vaccination mandates refer to requirements issued by states, private educational institutions, and employers conditioning access to specific benefits on receiving a vaccine unless an exemption applies. Thus, making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for working high school students and employers must pay their employees for time off (PTO) to receive the vaccine. Notably, employees should show proof of vaccination at their workplace to assure other workers of their safety so that no one falls victim to the circumstances.
Mandatory Covid-19 vaccines are critical to the protection of innocent bystanders. Failure by individuals to vaccinate not only puts them at risk of infection but also threatens other people they come in contact with, including children who are too young to be vaccinated and people with medical issues. The available Covid-19 vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing the spread of the disease, severe illness, and death. Clinical evidence for the Covid-19 vaccines has met the rigorous scientific standards of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Clinical trials with large, diverse groups of people have also shown these vaccines to be safe and effective. COVID-19 mandates reduce the risks of harming other individuals. Since the COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe and effective, the use of mandates is critical to preventing the further spread of the disease and its mortality rate.
States must protect their citizens’ health, including high school students; thus, this duty justifies the mandatory vaccination requirements for COVID-19. Public health responsibilities for states include promoting healthy communities, healthy behaviors, and preventing communicable diseases. Vaccination is a safe and effective method for prevention and reducing the spread of Covid-19; thus, mandating vaccines is critical to promoting public health by preventing the spread of the disease caused by hesitancy in vaccine uptake. Substantial evidence shows that vaccine mandates in the US have been effective. Cross-state comparative studies have shown that states’ school-entry mandates effectively improve vaccine uptake among students and significantly reduce disease outbreaks (Savulescu et al., 2021). Students’ vaccination promotes the learner’s and other’s safety in the school environment. Educational levels play a critical role in vaccine uptake, as high school students are more likely to embrace vaccines than their uneducated peers (Hume et al., 2021). Thus, establishing vaccine mandates in schools across states will be critical to promoting public health by reducing the strain on available resources to combat the disease.
Employers are legally responsible for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace; thus, employees must show proof of vaccination. The ability of employers to ensure their workforce Covid-19 vaccinations are up to date through proof of vaccination requirements creates the safest possible environment for employees and customers. Therefore, employers must extend some considerations to their employees to receive critical Covid-19 vaccinations. Some of the considerations recommended by OSHA is providing paid time off to workers for vaccinations and recovery from side effects (Larkin & Badger, 2022). Providing part-time off to workers to receive that mandated vaccine is a critical accommodation that employers can make to supplement the vaccination certificate requirement. PTO is a critical incentive to increase the uptake of vaccines by employees. According to Mulligan and Harris (2021), incentive reward programs effectively increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Therefore, employers can incentivize PTOs to target vaccine-hesitant workers to meet their vaccine mandates effectively.
Opponents of mandatory vaccines argue that Covid-19 testing and vaccination status certificate requirements erode bodily integrity, civil liberties, and freedom of individuals. However, mandatory vaccinations protect an individual’s family members, neighbors, classmates, and co-workers, who also have civil rights. The individual’s right to refuse a medical intervention does not give them the freedom to harm others. Additionally, the United States has a long history of requiring vaccines to enter school, which are effective (Shaw et al., 2018). Vaccine mandates in schools began in Massachusetts in the 1850s to prevent the spread of smallpox. Furthermore, by the 1900s, half of the States had implemented the requirement. The vaccine mandates for various diseases, such as rubella and measles.
The requirement of proof of vaccination is not a violation of an individual’s privacy since employees are free to decline giving out information about their vaccination status. However, in doing so, they must accept the practical consequences that employers implement to ensure secure the health conditions in the workplace, such as suspension of the unvaccinated. Additionally, the HIPAA privacy rule does not prohibit persons, including a business organization, and other HIPAA-covered entities, such as healthcare providers, from asking whether an individual shows proof of vaccination (Tovino, 2020). The HIPAA privacy rule applies principally to covered entities, including healthcare providers and their associates, not business entities. The Privacy Rule does not prevent the ability of the covered entity and their business associates from requesting information from individuals. Instead, the Privacy Rule only regulates how and when the covered entities and business associates are permitted to use such information and disclose protected health information.
Vaccine mandates are critical in promoting vaccine uptake and preventing severe illness and death; thus, their adoption in schools and workplaces will significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19. Mandatory vaccines are critical to protecting innocent bystanders who do not use the vaccine because of medical reasons. States can meet their obligations to citizens to maintain public health using vaccine mandates, and employers can maintain safe workplaces through vaccine mandates. Significant evidence shows that school-entry mandates established by various states as attempts to promote public health are highly effective in improving the uptake of childhood vaccines; thus, the COVID-19 mandates can be equally effective. COVID-19 vaccines have safe and effective in adults, thus sufficient evidence to support mandates.
References
Barouch, D. H. (2022). Covid-19 vaccines—immunity, variants, boosters. New England Journal of Medicine, 387(11), 1011-1020.
Cardenas, N. C. (2022). ‘Europe and United States vaccine hesitancy’: leveraging strategic policy for ‘Infodemic’on COVID-19 vaccines. Journal of Public Health, 44(2), e315-e316.
Humer, E., Jesser, A., Plener, P. L., Probst, T., & Pieh, C. (2021). Education level and COVID-19 vaccination willingness in adolescents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1-3.
Larkin, P. J., & Badger, D. (2022). The First General Federal Vaccination Requirement: The OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 Vaccinations. Admin. L. Rev. Accord.
Mulligan, K., & Harris, J. E. (2021). COVID-19 vaccination mandates for school and work are sound public policy. The University of Southern California, Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.
Savulescu, J., Giubilini, A., & Danchin, M. (2021). Global ethical considerations regarding mandatory vaccination in children. The Journal of Pediatrics, 231, 10-16.
Shaw, J., Mader, E. M., Bennett, B. E., Vernyi-Kellogg, O. K., Yang, Y. T., & Morley, C. P. (2018, June). Immunization mandates, vaccination coverage, and exemption rates in the United States. In Open forum infectious diseases (Vol. 5, No. 6, p. ofy130). US: Oxford University Press.
Tovino, S. A. (2020). COVID-19 and the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Asked and Answered. Stetson L. Rev., 50, 365.
write