Should Covid-19 Vaccines Be Mandatory?
In a since deleted tweet, Good Morning Britain polled its viewers on a question that is hot on everyone’s minds – Should we be making vaccine’s mandatory? In the short time the poll was up, a resounding 89% of 45 thousand voters decided no, it isn’t time to make vaccines mandatory, whereas the remaining 11% agreed that we should.
With Omicron cases on the steep increase, many are concerned about what this will mean in terms of re-introducing measures such as lockdowns. As of the 18th of December, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan declared a ‘major incident’ after Omicron cases rose by more than 10,000 in a single day and total Covid cases reached 93,000, the highest number seen throughout the pandemic.
Scientists in the UK are concerned as to what impact these numbers will have on our health services. Some are arguing that we had weeks to plan for this inevitable crisis, after the Delta variant severely stretched our NHS. Some are disputing claims that mass infection over summer would make winter infection less severe, based on studies which suggest that previous infection gives little protection from the new Omicron variant. Wherever you look, there is an abundance of information being spread about the new and worrying surge in Covid numbers.
So, where do mandatory vaccines come into the question?
Governments are increasingly turning towards vaccine mandates as vaccine uptake slows and covid cases continue to rise.
Austria recently voted to make vaccines mandatory from February 2022 for all of those aged 14 or older, except for valid health reasons. This follows in similar footsteps of Indonesia and Micronesia, where vaccinations are already mandatory. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan also enforce mandatory Covid vaccinations.
However, an increasing number of countries are also seeing legislation passed that require frontline workers to be fully vaccinated. For example, Greece, New Zealand, and Hungary require nursing home staff and healthcare workers to be vaccinated and from March 2022 Poland and the UK will face similar requirements.
Italy’s vaccine policy is amongst the most tough, where unvaccinated health professionals’ risk being transferred to non-frontline duties or even being suspended without pay for a year. Italy’s vice president of its National Bioethics Committee has called vaccination an ‘ethical obligation’, in the same way Pope Francis did at the start of 2021.
However, many are fighting back against these stringent measures, describing them as human rights issues in light of the human right of autonomy and bodily integrity, which is part of the right to private life. Others simply believe mandatory vaccination is a poor approach, where education and persuasion could be much more effective in increasing vaccine uptake.
For example, Jeremy Corbyn spoke out to say that ‘far more is achieved in public health through co-operation and persuasion than you do by compulsion’ and Labour MP Rachael Maskell spoke out against mandatory vaccination in parliament, noting that ‘the people we were clapping and calling our heroes are now exhausted, traumatised and frightened that this legislation will sack them’.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has taken a similar stance, stating that it doesn’t presently support the direction of mandates for COVID-19 vaccination, arguing instead for better information and education campaigns and to also make vaccines more accessible.
The language surrounding ‘mandatory vaccination’ can also be misconstrued. To some, these words may evoke feelings of coercion, and some may fear physical restraint in order to be administered vaccination, although this is unlikely in the UK. However, such reports have been made in China by Human Rights Watch.
In favour of mandatory vaccination, an article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Oxford professor Julian Savulescu states that the introduction of mandatory vaccinations can be ethically justified only if the ‘threat to public health is grave and the confidence in safety and effectiveness [of vaccines] is high’. Because the Covid-19 pandemic has been on such a global scale, with not only extraordinary health consequences but also economic ones, many would regard the Covid-19 pandemic as a ‘grave’ threat. Additionally, the safety and dissemination of the vaccine thus far has left little room for doubt in its efficacy.
Furthermore, many have countered the civil liberties and human rights argument with the proposition that vaccine mandates may actually further civil liberties for the most vulnerable. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has spoken out to say that potential vaccine mandates would not only protect the liberties of the disabled, young children and communities of colour hit hard by disease but also many frontline workers. This is an argument built upon the fact many institutions such as schools, healthcare and the military already require vaccinations for far less contagious diseases such as mumps and measles.
This takes us back to Savulescu’s ‘Grave threat’ argument. Why, if we mandate vaccinations for less contagious diseases, should we ignore the ‘Grave Threat’ of Covid-19?
This is simply because vaccine mandates have become much more complex than just a solution based upon threat. The decision to introduce vaccine mandates, or to even get vaccinated at all has become deeply politicised.
For example, vaccine mandates may cause individuals to trust the state less, as was found in a 2014 journal article looking into attitudes towards vaccination. With those who are vaccine hesitant determining mandates as a loss of their autonomy and portray the government as being against them. Some countries have tried to combat this through incentive programmes such as lotteries.
Some anti-vaccination groups with state-level representatives have also married the mandates to causes opposing other Covid-19 mitigation policies such as social distancing and mask wearing.
Ultimately, it is a complex debate that can be argued from both sides, and it is up to our governments to decide. Whilst vaccine mandates can indeed be seen as promising and a chance to increase our civil liberties, there is the danger that enforcing vaccination could question our autonomy and lead to further vaccine hesitancy in individuals due to mistrust of the state.
Governments must keep in mind the freedoms of individuals, whilst considering the threat to public health. But aren’t the two deeply intertwined?
Written by Jess Robbins
Jess is studying for her MSc in Health and Development at the LSE. In her spare time, she is involved with animal rescue projects in Morocco
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