The Current State of Mandatory Vaccines
In 2021, many American companies and universities are requiring employees/students to take the COVID-19 vaccine. This reality concerns me since I am a college student who’s about to enter the workforce.
Regardless of one’s opinion about the COVID-19 vaccine, healthcare decisions have ceased being a private matter. Instead, employers and schools have decided to take away your personal autonomy by threatening one’s livelihood or education.
Higher Education
Concerning the education system, over 100 American universities will require students and faculty to take the COVID-19 vaccine for the Fall 2021 semester. Here are just some of the schools that have mandated the COVID-19 vaccine: the California State University system, Tulane, NYU, Duke, Wake Forest, Rice, Virginia, Dartmouth, Penn, Villanova, Brown, MIT, Notre Dame, Indiana, Colorado, Colorado State, and many more. Suffice to say, it’s a really long list of colleges. That means that hundreds of thousands of college students will have to take the COVID-19 vaccine to go to school on-campus.
For my Louisiana and Texas readers, here the universities in your states that are mandating students take the COVID-19 vaccine:
-Louisiana: Dillard University, Loyola University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Xavier University
-Texas: Paul Quinn College, Rice University, St. Edward’s University
On the other hand, about a dozen states aren’t allowing universities to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory. What’s more, most of the schools requiring the COVID-19 vaccine do allow for religious exemptions to not take the vaccine. Unfortunately, exemptions do not exist at all schools. For example, New York public universities will not allow for religious exemptions concerning the COVID-19 vaccine.
Certainly, there is no unified approach among American higher education concerning COVID-19 vaccinations for students and faculty.
The Business World
Moving unto the business world, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently stated that American businesses are allowed to require workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. At the same time, the EEOC requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for employees not taking the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons or disabilities.
The phrase “reasonable accommodation” is a fairly vague phrase that seemingly benefits employers. For example, I’m pretty sure that companies can force you to take the COVID-19 vaccine if you want to work in-person. In order to not get in trouble with the EEOC, an employer can just say that you can only work remotely if you didn’t take the COVID-19 vaccine. There’s plenty of ambiguity about mandating the COVID-19 vaccine in the workplace. Most businesses won’t likely require it just not stir up any controversy
While most American businesses probably won’t require employees to take the vaccine, some are. A notable example is the Houston Methodist hospital network. This Texas-based hospital suspended 178 employees for not meeting a June deadline for full COVID-19 vaccination. These workers filed a joint lawsuit to challenge their employer’s mandate. Sadly, a federal judge denied their suit—meaning that these employees will likely get fired. This is America in 2021.
Realistically, a vast majority of Americans are not facing the “take the vaccine or get fired” dilemma that confronted those hospital employees. Nevertheless, it’s a reality that should still concern the American populace. For generations, our nation has long treasured individual rights and civil liberties. Anything that threatens Americans’ liberty should receive heavy scrutiny: including mandatory COVID-19 vaccines
A Court Case that Matters: Jacobson vs. Massachusetts (1905)
To close out this post, I wanted to share an important history lesson. As you’ve read this post, you may have wondered how the government has the power to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. Well, a Supreme Court case from over 100 years ago is one big reason why.
In 1905, Swedish immigrant Henning Jacobson refused to take a Massachusetts-mandated smallpox vaccine during a smallpox epidemic. Jacobson experienced an adverse reaction to a vaccine in his childhood. So, he chose not take the smallpox vaccine and received a $5 fine (about $150 in today’s dollars).
The US Supreme Court took up this case and ruled against Jacobson. The Court stated that states hold the power to limit individuals’ liberty under certain conditions—including during an epidemic
Here is a telling excerpt from the court case:
“The possession and enjoyment of all rights are subject to such reasonable conditions as may be deemed by the governing authority of the country essential to the safety, health, peace, good order and morals of the community. Even liberty itself, the greatest of all rights, is not unrestricted license to act according to one’s own will. It is only freedom from restraint under conditions essential to the equal enjoyment of the same right by others. It is then liberty regulated by law.”
So, there you have it.
One last point, I will remind everyone that I am not an “anti-vaxxer”. But, I have been called one due to my legitimate concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine. My message today for you, the reader, is to not let others bully you into taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Stand up for the truth even if it’s not popular!