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Vaccine Mandates Are Lawful, Effective and Based on Rock-Solid Science

"Supreme Court to Hold Special Hearing on Biden Vaccine Mandates
[...]
The court said it would move with exceptional speed on the two measures, a vaccine-or-testing mandate aimed at large employers and a vaccination requirement for certain health care workers, setting the cases for argument on Friday, Jan. 7. The justices had not been scheduled to return to the bench until the following Monday.
P - Both sets of cases had been on what critics call the court’s shadow docket, in which the court decides emergency applications, sometimes on matters of great consequence, without full briefing and argument. The court’s decision to hear arguments on the applications may have been a response to mounting criticism of that practice.
P - The more sweeping of the two measures, directed at businesses with 100 or more employees, would affect more than 84 million workers and is central to the administration’s efforts to address the pandemic. The administration estimated that the measure would cause 22 million people to get vaccinated and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations.
P - The second measure requires health care workers at hospitals that receive federal money to be vaccinated against the virus. It “will save hundreds or even thousands of lives each month,” the administration wrote in an emergency application.
P - The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld state vaccine mandates in a variety of settings against constitutional challenges. But the new cases are different, because they primarily present the question of whether Congress has authorized the executive branch to institute the requirements.
P - The answer will mostly turn on the language of the relevant statutes, but there is reason to think that the court’s six-justice conservative majority will be skeptical of broad assertions of executive power."

Clear legal pathways exist to move the U.S. closer to herd immunity

By Lawrence O. Gostin on August 5, 2021

[...]

Federal and state governments: States have long had the constitutional authority to mandate vaccinations, which the Supreme Court has upheld twice, first in 1905 .. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/ .. and then in 1922 .. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/260/174/ . The federal government, however, has limited power to mandate vaccines. It can only require them to prevent transmission of a dangerous infectious disease across state lines or international borders. The federal government has never sought to require nationwide vaccinations, and the courts probably would not allow it. To date, all state government mandates have been for fully approved vaccines. Thus, it is likely cities and states would wait to mandate COVID-19 vaccines until they are fully licensed. But when governments act as employers, they would be in a similar legal position as businesses. Thus, federal and state worker COVID-19 vaccine mandates are fully lawful even under an EUA.

[...]

Are COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Ethical?

People cite bodily integrity, personal liberty and freedom as the most common justifications for refusing vaccines. But these arguments don’t hold water. It’s true that everyone has the right to refuse a medical intervention for their own good. But vaccines not only protect the person vaccinated but also that person’s family, neighbors, and classmates or co-workers. No one has the right to go into a crowded classroom or workplace unmasked and unvaccinated. Vaccine mandates do not unethically discriminate. Discrimination is wrong when it is based on irrational reasons or animus, such as discrimination based on race, gender or disability. But vaccine mandates are simply a tool, and they apply equally to everyone. They don’t impute blame or seek to shame the unvaccinated. They are intended only to keep the entire population safe. Finally, requiring proof of vaccination does not violate a person’s privacy. Individuals are free to decline to give information about whether they received a shot, but if they do decline, they must expect reasonable consequences to ensure everyone’s health. Additionally, federal health information privacy rules .. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html .. apply principally to health care providers and not to businesses or schools. There is also a public health exception to privacy rules.

Requiring people to get a vaccine is part of the fabric of American history going back to the Revolutionary War. General George Washington .. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/us/politics/military-vaccinations.html .. compelled troops to get a smallpox variolation, saying it was necessary to safeguard soldiers and to win the war. And not only is mandating vaccination lawful, but it is also an ethical responsibility. For far too long, Americans have asked the question, “What entitlements do I have as a rights-bearing citizen?” It’s now time to ask, “What duties do I owe to my neighbors, my community and my country?” Getting a COVID-19 vaccine as the nation and the world are undergoing a historic health crisis is badly needed for the common good and mutual solidarity.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-mandates-are-lawful-effective-and-based-on-rock-solid-science/

See also:

Joe Biden Should Follow George Washington's Lead and 'Inoculate All the Troops’
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