On Thursday, Dec 2nd, President Joe Biden announced a new strategy to combat the potential “winter surge” of Covid-19 while not enacting quarantines such as those
we have seen before. Biden’s approach emphasizes expanding vacations to the remaining Americans who have resisted getting vaccinated, while simultaneously
providing booster shots to newly eligible young adults. Furthermore, Biden is changing rules on international travel to require more recent testing results upon US
entry. Biden has made it clear that although Covid is an issue, he is prioritizing the nation’s economic recovery stating that his plan “‘pulls no punches in the
fight against Covid-19’”, and that it should “‘unite us’”.
Cases of the South African Omicron variant are inevitably going to hit the US, however, Biden’s agenda was edited in hopes to give the administration enough
time to plan the best possible way to combat the damage. Thursday however was not the first time Biden announced a new plan. The media, having previously
recorded such events, had also taken note of continued resistance against getting vaccinations and boosters, which in turn lowered his public approval rating.
Biden was speaking on the new plan, but the next day officials had already confirmed the first recorded case of the Omicron variant in the US hitting our home
state of California, another case shortly discovered in Minnesota. With the restriction now being one day before US entry for international immigration, cases
from foreign entry are predicted to lower, however, travel is not the only way a virus spreads.
Biden is fighting a two-front war with both new emerging Covid variants as well as the economic collapse caused by the first wave of Covid. In times of such
challenge keeping an approval rating high is more than difficult but Biden is already better off than Trump in that regard. With the new travel restriction which
seems necessary, I am unsure of what Biden plans to do regarding the damaged economic status of the United States. With the media hungry for more
stories after the very media-heavy presidency of Donald Trump, Biden’s term will certainly be affected by the media to a similar degree. The Biden
administration also spoke about increasing vaccination rates for children, however, these mandates remain under constitutional question. While under
section 361 of the Public Health Service Act which allows the Department of Health and Human Services the ability to take measures to prevent the
introduction, spread, and transmission of disease in-between states, other federal laws allow vaccine exemptions for employees based on religious beliefs.
President Biden is up against a formidable force of the media, the public, and Covid-19; Only time will tell if his calculations will play in the favor of both his
administration and the American people.
Do you believe that children should be mandated to get the vaccine? Is this constitutional?
Do you think that Biden deserves the criticism he receives from the decisions he has made regarding the economic and physical health of the US?
What measures should be taken to combat the spread of Covid 19 / Omicron variant? Are public institutions doing enough?
18 comments:
I certainly believe that getting the vaccine would be beneficial for everyone, not just children. While it may seem like a violation of privacy and personal liberty, mandated vaccination has been deemed constitutional for at least a century. An article I read mentions two Supreme Court cases in which this topic has been debated:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/mass-torts/articles/2021/winter2022-not-breaking-news-mandatory-vaccination-has-been-constitutional-for-over-a-century/
Essentially, yes vaccines can be mandated and it is legal for them to be required as well as masks. I don't pretend like I can do a better job than the Biden administration but I do think some of the criticism is deserved and needed. It allows government to gauge public opinion and lets them know which areas need more attention. Personally, I agree with the decisions he has made in terms of public health and the economy. He is the President and he is doing his job to ensure the prosperity and maintain the integrity of the United States.
I think vaccine mandates are a good step towards combatting COVID-19. Lockdowns are another option but it could further damage the economy so I doubt Biden will do that since repairing the economy is one of his main focuses. Also, I would lose my mind if we had to spend the rest of the year doing virtual learning or social distancing again.
I do believe that most children should be mandated to receive the vaccine (except in cases where the vaccine itself would pose extraordinary risks to the child itself). There is, of course, two ways of looking at the argument. One is the idea of bodily autonomy, set up by the landmark case Roe v. Wade, which those against vaccine mandates will point you to as evidence that anything of the sort is unconstitutional because people should have a right to decide what goes into their body. While this is true, vaccine requirements for things like polio and other diseases/viruses that we have cured have become commonplace in the nation; and COVID is not very different. The only difference which most will state is the time spent on the vaccine. This article (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-coronavirus-vaccine-development-speed) goes well in-depth about how what appears to be a "rushed" vaccine is actually just cutting edge new techniques and development from scientists around the world that came together to fight the COVID pandemic. The other side of the argument, as Edan mentioned, is that vaccines are an essential step towards stopping the virus.
Without a prevalence of vaccinated populations, the virus is free to continue spreading amongst the wide range of unvaccinated people. These people essentially serve as a breeding ground of sorts for the virus to mutate (creating new variants) and for new strains that are possibly more contagious, more deadly, and more vaccine-resistant to emerge and to spread. This concept is covered in depth in this article (https://www.businessinsider.com/unvaccinated-people-are-variant-factories-disease-expert-says-2021-7) along with many others if you search up "unvaccinated increase in variants". With a vaccine mandate, this unvaccinated population will shrink to the point where this effect is miniscule, and hopefully, with masks, vaccines, and social distancing, the world will eventually be able to forget about the virus.
I think children should be forced to be vaccinated to attend school and If they are able to get so safely. Its consituial because many states are having children be vaccinated to attend schools. This is best for all children as well it keeps them safe especially ones that have a weaker immune system. there are many different arguments, the government should force anything in our bodies. This is a heated debate that goes past a blog comment and both sides arguments would need to be represented.
I don't think Biden should get the amount of criticism that he is getting, he deserves some but Manu people don't understand the complexity of the government. They don't blame the other branches or the people of the USA. He is doing the best in his situation that he is in. The world is in a pandemic and our country is trying its best. Everyone makes mistakes so criticism is good but Biden in my opinion is getting too much and people need to step back and realize the position that we are in.
In my honest opinion, there is no way to force people to listen to mandates. America is a very selfish country many people just think for themselves and not others. Getting everyone to listen to mask mandates and vaccines has proven impossible, people see masks as "muzzles" and won't wear them. They aren't going to suddenly start wearing a mask, and way too many people thinking that cover is fake. Too many of these types of people is going to prove impossible for our country to see change
I do believe that children should be mandated to get the vaccine and that it should be considered constitutional. For example, polio vaccination was mandatory and was considered constitutional. States already have the powers(through their police powers) to enact such mandates in order to “protect the health, safety, and general welfare”, so the question is whether the federal government has the power to make it compulsory for states to enact these mandates. According to an article from the American Bar Association, vaccine mandate was ruled constitutional around a century ago in the Supreme Court Case, Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where it was determined that the authorities must keep in mind the “welfare, comfort and safety of many[public].” In my opinion, Biden does not deserve the amount of criticism he receives from his decisions regarding the economic and physical health of the US, as he is taking action trying to minimize detrimental repercussions from both crises while also considering the wellbeing of all citizens. I do believe that more measures should be taken to prepare against the Omicron variant as the World Health Organization(WHO) has said that it is spreading at a faster rate than any other variant and should not be underestimated. They have also warned that while current vaccines like Pfizer are not as effective against the Omnicron variant, booster shots reinforce the strength and can protect individuals. Public institutions should be vigilant and take more steps to prepare so that they are not caught off-guard by the Omnicron variant like they had when COVID-19 first appeared in the US.
Links: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/mass-torts/articles/2021/winter2022-not-breaking-news-mandatory-vaccination-has-been-constitutional-for-over-a-century/
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/who-says-omicron-is-spreading-at-a-rate-not-seen-with-any-other-covid-variant.html
I believe that pushing people to get vaccinated is a step in the right direction, however it can be a hard reality. The idea of enforcing the vaccine to everyone seems like a good idea, it makes sure people are safe from the virus and each other. But today's world has proven to us that mistrust in the vaccine has been prevalent:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/12/13/mandatory-vaccines-are-not-the-solution
The Aljazeera article emphasizes that a mandatory vaccine will only cause more problems, as many might gain some mistrust in the government through the belief that they should not be enforcing something that involves their bodies. Hesitation is a natural response to a very big order, but people need to understand that there is no micro chip inside the vaccine, there is no malicious intent, it's just a big move that helps us make sure we don't go back to the past.
Regarding children, they are the ones that are touching everything that stands in front of them, therefore being most likely to catch something. Vaccinating them really highlights the collectivity that is needed from the American public to protect themselves and others. We do not want another lockdown, the economy will plummet, and overall health will decline. I believe that what Biden doing is a decision that might sting for some, but needs to be done.
I believe that everyone should be pushed and encouraged to get vaccinated. Federal vaccine mandates have never been sought out prior to COVID-19, but their constitutionality is now being questioned. Although I believe it's unrealistic to have a federal vaccine mandate, states have long had the constitutional authority to mandate vaccinations. This has been upheld twice but the Supreme Court, first in 1905 and then in 1922. I think it's important that states take advantage of this law to achieve a highly vaccinated population and help combat the spread of this ongoing pandemic.
Additionally, K-12 schools have mandated all sorts of vaccines, such as for measles, mumps and rubella. The supreme court once again upheld school vaccine mandates. If schools can mandate other vaccines, I see no reason for them not to mandate COVID vaccines. Many private universities have already taken action to do this, but I do think that spreading these mandates to K-12 schools would be extremely beneficial for the country's health.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-mandates-are-lawful-effective-and-based-on-rock-solid-science/
Danielle Sipes
Children should absolutely be mandated to get the vaccine to go to public school or things of that nature. Children can be the most dangerous with COVID, especially because when they contract because they're often asymptomatic. They'll come home, go about life normally, and infect parents or elderly relatives they live with, endangering their lives. When fighting COVID, the resistance has to come from the ground up and that starts with children. As far as Omicron is concerned, we should be doing everything possible to prevent another lockdown, whether that's vaccine mandates or mask mandates. Economically on the large scale and for mental/physical health at the micro scale, we can't go back to our 2020 lifestyle. It is critical that we tackle COVID aggressively and early to prevent that sort of thing from happening again.
https://www.massgeneral.org/children/news/asymptomatic-spreaders-young-people-with-covid-19
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/vaccine-mandates-are-for-the-public-good.html
I believe that it is in the best interest of the people that vaccines become mandated. Although it seems very unrealistic that this would happen because of the controversy that it may cause. If all the children get vaccinated, it will help increase their immunity and should not affect them in any way. I believe that the best way to fight against the spread of covid is for most if not all businesses to require their employees, as well as customers to be vaccinated. People might dislike it, but it will be a way to force them to be vaccinated if they wish to go around doing the things they normally would. I also believe that it is going to take more than public institutions to push vaccines and information in order to combat the spread of covid. Government action will continue to be necessary as I hope that the state legislature starts to mandate vaccines rather than just some businesses.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/companies-suspend-vaccine-mandates-hospitals-amtrak-rcna8903
I believe that mandating the vaccine for children is a good step in the right direction toward stopping the spread of this virus. As we have seen recently, variants of the virus emerge mainly in the unvaccinated population. I believe that creating this vaccine mandate is crucial in ensuring that we aren't struggling with new variants in the next 5 years.
As the others have said, vaccination mandates for young children, such as protection against measles, have been deemed constitutional in the past, and I see no reason why the COVID vaccine is any different. Additionally, this source by the National Institutes of Health, revealed that the COVID vaccine is very similar to the measles vaccine, and that there were just a few modifications made to fight against COVID specifically. Therefore, I see no reason why we should not push for COVID vaccine mandates for kids in order to keep them, and teachers, safe.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/measles-vaccine-used-base-experimental-covid-vaccine
I believe that a vaccine mandate for children is necessary and constitutional. There is a long history of vaccine mandates in the US, from measles to tuberculosis. These vaccinations are required in order to enroll in public schools, unless a valid health or religious exemption is applicable. The COVID vaccine should be treated the same way, and with more urgency, as the coronavirus pandemic has had serious ramifications on our education and economic systems already, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of lives lost. A vaccine mandate would certainly be unpopular, but vaccination rates must be increased if the pandemic is to be ended. People who are anti-vaccine may not be responsive to a vaccine mandate, but people who are vaccine-hesitant maybe convinced to take the shot or allow their children to if it is required for school or other public services.
I do think that children should be forced to get the vaccine. I feel that lots of parents see misinformation about vaccines and its risks (really low) which then causes them to feel that their children should not take them. Currently, there are lots of vaccines that are necessary for children to get so that they can go to school anyways. Vaccines like tuberculosis are mandated for all kids unless there are special exemptions which not only protect the kid but helps to protect everyone else as well. If we were to not only create a covid vaccination mandate but also keep the ones for other kinds of vaccines it could be horrible for kids. Diseases that disappeared almost due to almost total immunization will come back and infect kids again and could hurt people who have weak immune systems. As for its constitutionality, there have been no sort of bans of vaccine mandates so there should not be any problem fighting for this other than some people panicking for no real reason. Vaccination mandates in the past have shown how they are essential to reach herd immunity which can help us to hopefully beat covid and protect not only ourselves but everyone around us.
I agree that it is necessary and constitutional for children to be mandated to get the vaccine. It is necessary because there are schools nationwide that require students to be vaccinated for on campus learning. Although there will have to be a great push and demand for vaccines to be produced, ultimately it will be worth it for the safety of communities, and help decline the rate of people who test positive for covid.
I believe that Biden does not deserve the criticism he is receiving because he has a made a significant impact on the pandemic ever since he stepped in to do something. Before Biden, Trump did little to nothing to stop the virus. I think that Biden has set a very high bar of expectations for himself due to his accomplishments, and people need to remember that he is capable of handling the toughest of situations. It may not happen tomorrow but I have confidence that in the near future there will be a resolution.
To help slow down the spread of the virus although it will be very unfavored, vaccine mandates must be strictly enforced. With an increase in people who get vaccinated, along with mask mandates, the virus will eventually decline. We've seen it slow down before with mask mandates, and it is bound to slow down again.
I believe that vaccine mandates for children are a critical step towards combating Covid-19 from spreading and ensuring everyone’s safety, and not just children. Currently, vaccine mandates for K-12 students are already in place. For example, in California’s Department of Public Health, all students k-12 must have Chickenpox, Measles, Mumps, MMR, Hepatitis B, Polio, Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis in order to be admitted to a school. Vaccination mandates are no surprise for students. Especially given the climate of the virus, and its rapid spread throughout the world, mitigating risk of spread through vaccines is essential. Because children account for about 22% of our population, ensuring their safety is critical to protect themselves and others around them. In addition, recent news shows that pediatric hospitalizations have spiked, even more of a reason to get children vaccinated. Especially around the holidays, many people are spending time in larger extended family gatherings. Therefore, unvaccinated children could easily carry the virus and spread it to relatives, especially those who are weaker and older. Obviously, there are few exemptions from vaccines in the most severe cases that vaccines may negatively affect a person. According to the CDC, only about 2.5% of children from k-12 are exempt from immunization mandates. While these exemptions should be available, they must be kept to a minimum in order to create herd immunity.
As of now, I do not think that public institutions are doing enough to ensure safety. It’s great that the booster is now available for ages 16 and up. However, I also know that in many areas of the country, the vaccine is still frowned upon by the media and deemphasized. For instance, in Idaho, their vaccination rate remains stagnant at 51.9%. In order to slow the spread of the virus, we must cooperate and continue taking adequate safety measures: vaccinations, boosters, masks, and more.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-12-26/jump-in-child-covid-hospitalizations-in-new-york-sparks-concerns-in-california-amid-omicron
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/immunize.aspx#
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7003a2.htm
Like all other commenters, I believe that vaccine mandates are integral to preventing the exacerbation of the pandemic and to expediting all students' return to school life as they once knew it. In the 1922 case Zucht v. King, the Supreme Court ruled that school vaccine mandates aren't a violation of constitutional rights. According to Pew Research, vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, rubella, and chickenpox are already mandated in all 50 states.
However, of course, misinformation and fear-mongering did give rise to anti-vaxxers and continue to do so today. According to Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California's Hastings College of Law, parents of children with autism were attracted to the anti-vaccine movement because it provided them with an explanation (though a false one) of how their children gained autism.
It's understandable that the hesitancy to mandate COVID-19 vaccines comes from the fact that it all feels incredibly rushed. Thus, a vaccine mandate for all children would be met with great backlash and may not be the most realistic. Dr. Stella Safo, founder of Just Equity for Health, says that in the next 3-6 months, a strong push for people to get their kids vaccinated is probably the most realistic approach. Pushes have already been seen through advertisements or PSAs promoting COVID-19 vaccines targeted towards BIPOC communities that have been wary and hesitant of getting vaccinated. With a targeted approach, perhaps hesitant parents will vaccinate their children as well. Still, for children who do not get vaccinated, districts may justifiably consider disallowing these children from attending school in-person with others due to the risk these unvaccinated students may pose to themselves and other students. However, this would come with its own equity issues, depriving some children of their education and perhaps perpetuating race-related inequality due to some minority communities' hesitance to get vaccinated. Thus, maybe an approach like the one SMUHSD has taken is the most feasible: unvaccinated students should get tested weekly, and those participating in extracurriculars should definitely plan to be vaccinated.
Source:
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1056568867/should-schools-mandate-covid-vaccine-for-children
As Lauren and many others above have mentioned, mandating vaccines for children doesn't violate any guidelines in my book. We mandate various other vaccines from birth, and if the COVID vaccine has FDA approval, just as all our other vaccines do, then there's no reason to not require the vaccine for those under 18. Similarly, I'm looking for boosters to have a similar push to COVID vaccines and I'm worried that our government isn't doing enough to promote them. Due to family vacations, I haven't had the opportunity to stand in line for my booster yet but I'm planning on getting mine in the next week. However, I've heard from multiple sources that they stood in line for three to four hours, some even with an appointment, just to get the booster. Obviously, this logistics barrier deters many from getting the booster after being protected by the double vaccine but obviously, with the rise of Omnicron, we need to promote it immediately.
Furthermore, with the shutdown of numerous universities and the shift to online school for the upcoming quarter, I'm anxious to see how our school district handles it. I'm worried that a shift to online school is in our future as well just because of how rampantly COVID is spreading, leaving our healthcare system unable to keep up. I recently read an article that required healthcare workers to continue working even if they tested positive for COVID due to short-staffing unless they were being hospitalized.
According to Deadline, "Last Monday, L.A.’s 7-day average test positivity rate was 3.4%. Today, that same 7-day average has risen more than 300% to 12.4%." This rampant increase is astronomical and must be combated via stricter measures. What's more, "By Sunday, however, the single-day test positivity rate had jumped to 26%. That’s among the highest, if not the highest, single-day test positivity rates of the pandemic." The fact that we are practically at the worst our pandemic has ever been even with the development and mandate of vaccines and rolling out of boosters just goes to show how badly unvaccinated people are hurting the health of the nation and the immense irresponsibility that anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are projecting onto the nation is simply hurting everyone. I hope that with the decline of holiday season, these numbers can decline and vaccinations increase so we can slowly tackle Omnicron.
Source:
https://deadline.com/2021/12/los-angeles-covid-positivity-soars-1234902157/
I think that overall, these drone strikes do more harm than they do good. But I do not think it is as simple as that. It definitely is not black and white and has a very big grey area that comes with them. I think that overall, they do help protect against terrorism and is a safer way to do this without deploying troops. However, even without the civilian deaths, drone strikes don't create change within an enemy group. All it does is set them back for a while and anger them. And then when these civilian deaths come into play, it creates a hatred toward America that might incentive the people to join that terrorist group to get revenge or whatever goal they have.
I think that with the beforehand knowledge of civilian deaths being very probable if they carried out the drone strike, I do not think it was okay for them to proceed. While they might think they are doing more good than harm in the long run, all it does is continue to the cycle of hate which is what leads to these terrorist organizations popping up in the first place.
(This was supposed to go under Levi's Al Queada Drone Strike post, I clicked the wrong one).
The benefits of having the largest amount of people vaccinated as possible have been very well covered in the comments already — obviously the health of those vaccinated and reducing spread of the virus, but also preventing further mutations and future lockdowns. With these benefits in mind, many comments have insisted upon mandates at many levels. Although, I thought the point Matthew brought up was very important; a mandate may in fact create more resistance to the vaccine. The opinion piece he referenced and linked (https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/12/13/mandatory-vaccines-are-not-the-solution) considered, "[i]f governments impose vaccines on vaccine-hesitant people in a heavy-handed way, they may become more vulnerable to fake news or conspiracy theories, and end up joining more extreme anti-vax movements." It even cited that the World Health Organization had cautioned against vaccine mandates for this reason, unless every other attempt to convince those still hesitant has been exhausted. With that considered, I think (more) campaigns targeting the reasons people are still holding out from getting vaccinated could be a very worthwhile attempt, before resorting to mandates. Informative campaigns like this would get as many people to make their own choice to get the vaccine, rather than forcing them. Finally, I think the already-underway movement of schools, businesses, and other organizations mandating vaccines for their students/employees/customers is another way to reduce the heavy-handedness of vaccine mandates. It removes the image of the government forcing people's choice, as well as bringing the mandates closer to the person rather than the farther away government.
As for what should be done to combat the Omicron variant, I agree with Sakshi that more measures should be taken than currently are. Especially with a high priority of helping the economy, it would be extremely detrimental if we underestimated Omicron and had to shut down to the scale of 2020. Not to mention, the efficacy of the vaccines have been waning over time. I think the country should be more proactive this time, and it would be better to overestimate it than underestimate it.
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