Will COVID-19 Vaccines Become Mandatory?

More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are under development but one of the most compelling questions among healthcare experts is not when we will have an effective vaccine but rather how many people will get vaccinated when a candidate is available?

According to a recent Gallup poll one in three Americans said they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine even if it were free. State and local legislatures can mandate vaccinations and experts said that proof of vaccination may even become a requirement to travel, attend sporting events, get a manicure or go to work.

According to National Geographic, all 50 states require that students receive vaccines with exemptions for religious, medical and philosophical reasons. The U.S. military requires troops to get immunized against multiple diseases. All employers can legally ask their employees to be vaccinated as long was they “don’t run afoul of any anti-discrimination laws,” said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Experts said that one of the best ways to enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate is to offer a reward for compliance. In order to attend a concert, bowling alley, restaurant or even get a passport, you may need to provide proof of inoculation, according to National Geographic.

Debbie Kaminer, a law professor from Baruch College in New York, said that the ideal scenario is that compliance comes through public education. She told Healthline that polio vaccine rates surged after a young Elvis Presley got the vaccine on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.

“We’re not going to get to the point where the vaccine police break down your door to vaccinate you,” Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., a professor of bioethics at NYU School of Medicine, told National Geographic. “Oddly enough, the best way to impose a mandate is to reward people with more freedom if they follow that mandate.”

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