Can COVID-19 vaccines be mandatory?

[agate]

The question came up here a while back--Could the COVID-19 vaccine be mandatory? Would all of us have to get it?

According to this article in JAMA, it could be mandatory BUT there are many possibilities for exemption.

"Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines," JAMA, December 29, 2020:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...idget_01062021

[agate]

And can mask-wearing and social distancing be mandatory, I wonder?

Probably not.

But recent events shown in the news show a superspreader event that was not only violent in terms of what the people involved were doing but was also very alarming because (of course) there were very few masks in sight, and there was certainly no attempt at social distancing.

Here come more and more cases of COVID-19.

[agate]

According to this, the COVID-19 vaccine just might become mandatory. However, this article does say:

No one can physically force you to get a shot, says Diane M. Juffras, professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Government. But Juffras says states, schools, employers, and private businesses have wide leeway to require vaccinations for residents, students, workers, and customers, though there are several exemptions—mainly for religious or medical reasons—that limit the ability to impose blanket vaccine policies.

From Consumer Reports (January 15, 2021)--"You Could Be Required to Get Vaccinated against COVID-19":

https://www.consumerreports.org/covi...0210124_nsltr_

[Howie]

I still wonder how far they will go to enforce "mandatory vaccinations". I could only be forced by cutting off my Social Security, or cut off my ability to get groceries. That, I could get my sister to shop for me or my nephew. Or find a local food delivery. But to take my Social Security would really make a difference, and I would be forced to comply.

I'm going to find out I guess.

[agate]

The paragraph I quoted says you can't be forced to get a vaccine. There might be barriers to employment or travel or education but they're not going to set up roadblocks for getting necessities like food,

[Howie]

Well, I don't use any of those services, so I'm okay.......for now.

[agate]

You're freer than you knew!

[Howie]

There are so many other ways to force you to take a vaccine that they could use, but FOR NOW I seem to be okay.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

It doesn't make any sense to mandate the vaccinations, if there are no vaccines available. So much for a "roll out plan" from the previous administration, which clearly is nonexistent.

The vaccines are scarce here. I watched a news story about a location in San Francisco all set up for drive-thru vaccinations. Only one glitch: no vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson have given up on their vaccine. Now, it is turning its attention to COVID treatment drugs. Speaking of which, more production of those "miracle drugs" given to the previous WH occupant and others in his realm would be super helpful to those, who need it.

I don't know what happened to our Governor. He's lifted the stay at home order and is allowing businesses to reopen, while cases surge and ICUs are jam packed.

If this had all been handled properly from the beginning, and we all followed the simple rules of isolating, wearing masks, washing our hands, avoiding large and even small gatherings, and we were told the truth about how deadly COVID is, we wouldn't be worrying about whether the vaccines will be available to us immediately. There wouldn't be 420,000 deaths in the U.S. We wouldn't lead the World in the most cases and deaths.

Now, new variants are being discovered. Perhaps if we all had stopped traveling and gave up our regular lives for a few months, that wouldn't have happened.

With all of these variants now, the manufacturers of the vaccines have no idea whether their vaccines will work against the variants.

So, where does that leave all of us?

It's difficult to schedule an appointment (Virginia) or get CVS to inoculate residents (agate) or find a place giving vaccinations close to you. The vaccines are now a scarce commodity. And the vaccines may or may not protect us from assorted variants.

So, of course, let's make the COVID vaccine mandatory.

Sigh ...

Love & Light,



Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!

[Virginia]

None of this makes any sense to me. I spoke with my cousin who lives 50 to 55 miles south of me. She has not had the vaccine and plans to wait for the Johnson & Johnson since it is one shot. I didn't know it had been abandoned or stopped. She was telling me about a man who lives in a tiny little blip on the map a little way from her (she is also in a very small town). He just walked into a hospital, no appointment, in that tiny little place and asked for the vaccine and got it. Then they gave him a card with a date and time to come back for the 2nd shot in 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, back here in Raleigh, I was told that we did not get a shipment that we had been promised. While up close to Charlotte this week-end they had a drive thru where they gave shots to people in their cars. I do think they did have to have an appointment, but it was a lot. I think I read 16,000 people got their vaccines. We were due for a big shipment and got 4,000 vaccines. It is crazy. I don't think they know yet how many there are in the stockpile.

This virus, in the meantime is getting worse and worse with different variants thrown in to complicate things. I think so far the vaccine will cover the variants, but I did hear Dr. Fouci say that if it keeps on there will be more and more variants until one comes along that the vaccine will not cover. If we could get all the people vaccinated this would prevent the variants from happening. The virus would have nothing to keep feeding on.

Meanwhile I am now wearing two masks instead of one and of course my disposable gloves. I would hate to be this close to a vaccine and get this virus.