Ever since President Trump responded aggressively to the COVID-19 pandemic that started in China and now has spread around the globe with a plan to develop a vaccine in the breathtakingly short time span of less than a year, there have been concerns that it would be made mandatory.
It's at least partly because vaccines in and of themselves are a controversial topic with patients maimed every year by their use.
And there are religious objections as some processes use the cells of aborted babies to create vaccines.
Now that President Trump's strategy has proven a success, and three companies already have confirmed vaccines that are getting close to consumer-ready, those concerns about mandates have risen again.
Especially since they've already begun. "A Current Affair" in Australia is reporting the chief of Qantas Airlines has said the vaccine will be a requirement in order to travel internationally.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce told program host Tracy Grimshaw that once a vaccine is available to the public, travelers going international must have it.
"For international travelers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they get on the aircraft," he said. "Certainly, for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country we think that's a necessity."
Joyce confirmed he expects the requirement to be worldwide.
#BREAKING: QANTAS CEO confirms that proof that you've been vaccinated for COVID-19 will be compulsory for international air travel onboard his aircraft. #9ACA pic.twitter.com/dhk3Hsnxn9
— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) November 23, 2020
"We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say, for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft," Joyce said.
Just on Monday drugmaker AstraZeneca revealed its late-stage trials showed its own COVID-19 vaccine should work.
The company said it conclusions are based on trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was estimated to be 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, which followed announcements from Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines were about 95% effective.
But AstraZeneca said its product could be stored in a refrigerator at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while the others require very cold storage – in the range of minus 94 degrees.
All three still face examination from regulators.
A report from Johns Hopkins University revealed it is questionable whether private companies could require employees to be vaccinated.
Although they probably could require that of customers.
But the report said that according to a 1905 precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court, governments across the 50 states could require citizens to be vaccinated.
The precedent, now 115 years old, was set during a dispute over smallpox, and the world of medical technology and treatment is vastly different today than at the time Henry Ford was envisioning his first horseless carriage.
Should governments mandate a COVID-19 vaccine in this era, there undoubtedly would be new court challenges.
And in that report, public health expert Joanne Rosen said that other strategies likely would be more effective.
Rosen, a senior lecturer in health, said that current vaccination requirements have medical exemptions for those whose health may be compromised by the treatment. Most locations also provide religious exemptions.
Rosen explained some of the exemptions were introduced "to try to respond to and prevent vaccine-related backlash. There's a very strong culture in this country and others of personal autonomy and not wanting the government to force you to do something or tell you what to do. People wanted to be able to make their own decisions about the risks they're willing to take. The introduction of these exemptions, in part, was kind of like a safety valve to let some of the pressure out of the system so that people could feel that they had some choice."
Those mechanisms actually protected the overall integrity of a vaccine regimen, she explained.
She said a mandate could end up creating "a lot of backlash and resistance."
"One approach might be to start with a strong recommendation and education campaign. Physicians and health care providers can be part of this effort to educate people about the safety of vaccines. A particular issue that we may face with a COVID-19 vaccine that does arise with other vaccines, but not to the same degree, are questions about [safety] because it's brand new," Rosen said.
If enough people seek a vaccination voluntarily, there would be no need for a mandate, Rosen said.
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