As two coronavirus vaccines are underway to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration very soon, the questions now are: will Americans be required to take the vaccine and will they be willing to take it?
The answer to whether or not the vaccine will be mandated is quite complicated. It is highly unlikely that the federal government will make vaccinations mandatory. Public health powers belong to the states and that includes the mandating of vaccinations. Biden already announced that he will not mandate vaccines, but he will “do everything in [his] power as president to encourage people” to get vaccinated. How he will do this is still unclear, but it seems like the only thing he can do is appeal to governors and officials to enact mandates. Whether this will be effective or not, we’ll just have to see.
However, it is much more likely that private organization or companies will require their employees to get the vaccine. Over the years, health care facilities have increasingly required workers to get vaccinations. 24 of the states in the US have some requirements for flu vaccines for health care facility workers. The vaccine may also eventually be required for students, daycares, and some health care workers but it may take years for that to happen. Although the FDA and CDC have said that employers cannot mandate vaccines under the EUA (emergency use authorization), they can establish consequences for refusing it. Generally speaking, however, it is unlikely that the general public will be required to take it, and as Dr. Fauci says, “you cannot force someone to take a vaccine” since people reserve the right to refuse it.
Since the government cannot mandate vaccines, getting people to feel comfortable with it is the most important thing to do now. Unfortunately, a Gallup Panel survey "found that 58% of American would be willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a decrease from July, when 66% said they would." According to ABC News, a survey finds that 55% of NYC firefighters would refuse the vaccine. This growing reluctance is surprising considering that 200 members of the NYC fire department are out sick with the coronavirus. Even though Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccine both claim to have efficacy rates of over 90%, there is a great hesitation among the public to get is since it is a new vaccine. This increase in reluctance is generally attributed to the lack of information about the vaccine. We don’t know the long term side effects and considering that this vaccine was approved much quicker than most, it makes sense that many people are hesitant to take it.
Dr. Fauci has said that if 75-85% of people in the US get vaccinated, the coronavirus would be over before the end of 2021. However, given the public’s hesitation, I think it may take even longer. Personally, I think people and employees should retain the right to choose whether to get vaccinated or not. However given the high efficacy rates, I do think that people should get it and I believe there are more benefits than drawbacks. Should one risk the possible side effects of taking the vaccine? Is the coronavirus vaccine just another flu vaccine which only 50% of people get? The decision is ultimately yours to make and depends on your personal circumstances. But remember that taking the vaccination means not only means immunity for yourself but for others as well.
Questions:
Should the federal government be allowed to mandate covid-19 vaccinations? Should our school district mandate the vaccine if they had the authority to do so? Would you feel more comfortable going back to school knowing that everyone has gotten the vaccine?
Why do you think that so many people are hesitant about getting vaccinated? What are some drawbacks of getting vaccinated?
15 comments:
It is unfortunate that so many people are extremely opposed to getting the coronavirus vaccine, but I can see where they are coming from. In general, vaccines can take over 10 years to develop, costing over $500 million to make (World Economic Forum). It takes 2-5 years alone to conduct preliminary research, 2 years for the pre-clinical phase, 1-2 years for clinical development (phase 1), 2-3 years to see if an immune response is activated (phase 2), 2-4 years to see if the vaccine protects against the disease (phase 3), and another 1-2 years for regulatory review and approval. The creation of the COVID-19 vaccine was squished into around NINE months -- it makes sense that this timeline has raised some red flags for people. I do wonder what the "unique" side effects of the vaccine will be (beyond the general side effects of headaches, soreness, chills, fatigue, etc.), as there doesn't seem to be much written about them yet online. I absolutely agree that people should not be mandated to get the vaccine, but that if they have the opportunity to, they should. Getting vaccinated isn't only for yourself, but it's also for the people around you.
WE Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/vaccine-development-barriers-coronavirus/
It is definitely frightening to see how few Americans are willing to take the vaccine, as of now. However, it is understandable that media bias combined with the overall lack of information on this new virus and vaccine has led to a distrust in the vaccine. According to a Pew Research study, around 33% of Republicans said they would take the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas 70% of Democrats would "definitely" get the vaccine. It is alarming to see how political polarization is now influencing medicine, and science is in question, demonstrating the larger threat that such political divergence is causing.
Hopefully, as more vaccines gain FDA approval and more trials take place, the scientists will be able to provide American citizens with much needed information and reassurance about the implications and efficacy of the vaccine. Personally, I do wish the government had the capabilities to mandate the vaccine, but realistically I understand the challenges that come with the demand.
Additionally, with so little known to the side effects or long-term damage caused by COVID-19 itself, it seems startling that the vaccine would not pose similar, if not larger concerns. Unfortunately, it does not seem that a vaccine will be the end to the virus, due to both the low percentage of those who take the vaccine and the impartial protection the vaccine will offer to different patients. Herd immunity is not feasible and even when the vaccine comes out, it will be distributed in waves, starting with those considered high risk, such as elderly and health care workers.
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/17/u-s-public-now-divided-over-whether-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/
It is interesting to see such high opposition rates to the vaccine, but not surprising. There is a lot of false information circling social media sites that clearly have an influence on the population, especially those who don't trust "Fake News Media." It is obvious that the US can't force vaccines on its citizens, however, I think that school districts can 100% require vaccinations. Vaccinations are already mandated in many schools for viruses like Polio and Measles and I am sure COVID will be treated the same. As for the regular population, I do understand where the fear comes from, especially seeing how fast the vaccine was pushed through testing, but I hope that as vaccines become more readily available taking it will become more mainstream.
It seems interesting that the amount of people willing to take a vaccine has decreased with the increase of covid cases. I think a major problem is that many people think the vaccine will be cleared too early however they may not know that for any vaccine to be approved it follows the same process required by the FDA. To reassure the public I think there needs to be information on the approval process and reassuring that the reason it was passed fast was not because scientists were cutting corners.
However, I do get the fear of people who are surprised at a vaccine being approved this fast and are more hesitant. I think with time as more data comes out and as more "non-trial" patients take it, it might change the public view on the vaccine and encourage more to take it.
At this point, I think the number one item of importance is to stop false information from roaming on social media and for people from any stance on the political spectrum to look at facts from the CDC and FDA to make the best decision for themselves.
I think a lot of people are cautious of getting the vaccine right when it is available to them, because there may be long term side effects that aren’t apparent yet. Despite this, long term results will effect 1) people in testing trials and 2) health care and essential workers and at-risk groups before the general pubic.
A Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found President Donald Trump’s supporters are more concerned about vaccines than other Americans, and Trump’s tweets further radicalize his supporters. Yet as of recent, Trump has been patting himself on the back for being president during the production of vaccines. That specifically doesn’t prove he is at all pro-vaccine, in fact Pfizer offered the U.S. a larger sample of vaccines and Trump declined, which is coming back to haunt him now, as the information was reported this past week (he also previously mentioned he believes that vaccines cause autism).
Disinformation is a curse, and I hope that the American public will be vaccinated to the point where we can reach herd immunity without the need for anti-vaxxers.
Although validated I think the fire-fighters are rashly choosing a decision. Firstly, their day to day exposure already puts them at risk with this disease, and implementing a vaccine which could potentially mitigate the issue is definitely worth more than a mere 58% allegiance to the vaccine. Their worries aren't completely unwarranted because the vaccine was put on Fastrack by the FDA so long-term effects aren't apparent, but that leads me to my second reason: as public servants, they should be required to make every effort to curb the disease rate amongst normal civilians. They took an oath to protect the people and enforce the very things that make society "civil". And lastly, Phizer's vaccine has already been administered to the United Kingdom, so their results should give us insight on how the vaccine well the vaccine would work.
I recently read a statistic that says only 51% of American adults are currently willing to get vaccinated. I think this is a little ridiculous, since frontline workers like doctors and nurses are going to be required to take the vaccine as soon as it's available, and then treat those who contract the disease because they refused to take it. I think firefighters, who are so often praised for saving lives, should take the vaccine as a display of how it's something that must be done for common good. It makes no sense to expect the United States to return to anything resembling normalcy until the majority of the population is vaccinated, and that should be something that's enforced by the government.
Currently America has a choice between taking the vaccine or suffering through more of this pandemic. I think firefighters should set a good example for the public by taking the vaccine, which could encourage people to take it as a way of being "heroic." I understand that people are hesitant about a vaccine that is produced so quickly and hasn't been thoroughly tested, with that 94% effectiveness label and the possibility of unknown side effects, but this is really the solution we've been looking for and I think it's absurd that our front line workers would not want to get the vaccine. I think schools should definitely require students to be vaccinated, or else we could get another outbreak. I am reminded of when New York schools banned unvaccinated students from attending class in person out of concern for the public health. I wonder how parents of those unvaccinated kids (the anti vaxxers) will respond to the vaccine coming out. It is the sole enemy of their cause and yet it is the one thing we've been striving to get since the start of the pandemic. Those people are probably the same people as the anti-maskers, so they'd probably react similarly and just deny the existence of any such risks.
It is troubling to see such a large number of firefighters decide that they don't want to take the vaccine as we may see that directly correlate to America as a whole. While I do understand that there is some concern because people believe the vaccine's approval was fast-tracked, but there are a large number of steps and precautions taken in approving this vaccine. The vaccine has a lot of legal requirements to fulfill to be allowed to be distributed to the population. While I do not believe the government should make the vaccine mandatory for the general population, I find it foolish that many people do not want to take it. The government should do everything in their power to treasure the country that this is in fact a safe vaccine, and at the moment that seems to not be the case as even our first responders are hesitant. For this virus to come to an end people need to take the vaccine or sadly people will continue to die.
I think that it's very understandable for a lot of people to be quite hesitant about receiving the vaccine. It has been a rushed process to get the vaccine out and ready to go for administration. Even though people don't know the long term side effects yet, I still think that out of precaution for themselves and others, people should seriously consider taking it. I personally would not be comfortable going back to school if the vaccine is not required. I don't fully trust the other precautions that would take place when going back to school such as taking temperatures and filling out an online survey, things that abide by essentially, the "honor code" system. I understand that it is a right for people to not want to take the vaccine which is why I think that Biden's phrase of trying to educate the push as many people as possible to take it rather than forcing them to take it, is a reasonable statement. For now, it's in the hands of the people themselves, but I really hope that people think long and hard about what they're risking if they choose not to receive it.
I am pretty sure that at the moment the school has the authority to require certain other vaccines like measles and polio (https://www.shotsforschool.org/k-12/), so it is not entirely out of the question to have mandatory Covid vaccines, but as it was mentioned it could take years for this policy to get implemented. Additionally, these other vaccines are already very well understood and approved, which will not be the case for the COVID vaccine for a while. In our current situation it's probably safer to wait than to rush in and require this vaccine too early.
Another thing to consider is if the school were to require mandatory Covid testing. Like the measles/polio vaccines that are known to be pretty safe, it wouldn't be hard for the school to require students to get tested--the problem is that they wouldn't be able to require students to report their results due to privacy rights.
A firefighter will walk into a burning building, but they don't want to get this vaccine. This reflects strongly on the lack of public support this vaccine has. This is a problem that only time can fix. People need to get the vaccine and not show side effects in the long term, before others will feel safe to get the vaccine. Unlike others in the comments section, I do not think it is absurd that these firefighter don't want to get the vaccine. All firefighters are perfectly fit, healthy individuals who are unlikely to die from the virus. Firefighters and kids alike should restrain from getting the vaccine because there is little for young, healthy people to gain from the vaccine compared to the potential risks. People are saying the firefighters should take the vaccine to "set and example". This is very silly, because not everybody needs to get the vaccine. The only people who need the vaccine are old people. Once old people get the vaccine we can return to our daily lives, and young people can choose whether to get the vaccine or to get the virus. The people in this comments section should put their money where their mouth is. If you all want to "set and example" than how about you all be the first in line to get the vaccine when it roles out. Some of you brought up the idea that the school should mandate vaccine. Brandon connected it to the mandate on getting Polio and Measles vaccine. The thing that you all should consider is that Polio and Measles killed kids. Corona virus doesn't. I'm all for getting the old people vaccinated, because that will allow us to return to our daily lives. As for the rest of the population, I say its their freedom to choose.
This is an issue I have contemplated quite a bit. Some people were quick to say that a vaccine would be the turning point during the pandemic– that after a vaccine was find, life would go back to normal. In addition to the truth that coming up with vaccines signifies a long process, in this case, a lot of people need to receive the vaccine for it to be substantially effective. It needs to create herd immunity so that the virus cannot continue living and spreading from person to person. However, this cannot happen if only some people get the vaccine. This being said I do not believe mandating vaccinations is a smart move, and it will likely only cause more polarization towards this topic. One thing I think should be said is that a person choosing to receive the vaccine is not doing it to solely protect themselves from getting sick. Their ability to not contract the disease or be infectious is huge in stopping people from spreading it to others. So while I can understand, many people are likely unwilling to get it right away and are even fearful of its implications, over time, for full effectiveness, a large group of people do need to get it. Healthcare workers getting it right away is essential so that healthcare facilities are fully equipped in staff, as well as are able to safely work with covid positive patients. But beyond that, the virus still exists and can be passed from any person who comes into contact with it. With all this being said, this process does, and should, come with time. It wont be immediate nor should it. Continuous studying of the vaccines and their effects is vital, and as it shows positive outcomes, that will likely encourage more people to seek out the vaccine. But again, in the meantime, people doing what they can to stay home, wear masks, social distance, etc is just as vital and essential as it has always been and it should continue to be taken seriously even once vaccines start being distributed.
I do not believe the federal government has the power to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. In the current political climate, I can imagine there would be a great deal of backlash if the Biden administration attempted to do so. However, there are other ways to effectively mandate people to get the vaccine. I believe states can require people to receive vaccines (as seen by the vaccination requirements to attend public schools). Corporations, as private entities, would probably be able to demand that their employees be vaccinated before coming to work in person.
It is crucial that Americans get the COVID-19 vaccine. Ordinarily, getting vaccinated might be about protecting oneself; however, in the midst of a pandemic, getting vaccinated is tantamount to a social responsibility. I can understand where the firefighters’ fears are coming from. Over the last four years, the Trump administration has dealt a great blow towards the credibility of scientists and researchers (especially in the last few months by pushing for the release of the vaccine by Election Day). However, on a personal level, I strongly disagree with the firefighters’ stance against taking the vaccine.
While the government doesn't have the power to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations directly, it is still necessary to influence people as much as possible to get the vaccine in order to bring herd immunity back up, so I would be in support of mandating the vaccine in our school district. Schools are in general high-risk areas for infection, so it would definitely make me more comfortable with going to in-person school if most kids were vaccinated.
Though getting people comfortable with vaccines has become more and more finicky in the U.S. with the rise of misinformation surrounding vaccines and people's growing apathy on the necessity of vaccines now that most of the diseases they prevent are mostly eradicated. Personally, I would have thought that the the COVID panic this year would have seen a solid majority of people wanting to take a vaccine, but the statistics above prove otherwise.
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