Those who are vaccinated remain vulnerable
Gov. DeSantis is relentless in his attacks on mandates requiring Floridians of whatever ilk to be vaccinated for COVID-19, even with, now, the constant attention, daily surge, and economic disruptions caused by the omicron variant.
Many cities, like New
York, Chicago and San Francisco, have put into place mandates which would certainly make him cringe, yet there also remains a significant underbelly of his followers that bristles at the thought of any governmental agency mandating what to do with their bodies or how to protect themselves against disease and illness.
After all, they say, it is a personal choice whether to get vaccinated.
Such thinking is short-sighted and misguided, if not dangerous, since those that remain unvaccinated make not only themselves more exposed to the virus, but also is the petri dish for infecting the rest of the population.
Long before omicron made its appearance on the global stage and in national headlines daily, I wrote in a Sept. 4 Sentinel guest column, “When public health is at stake, freedom isn’t absolute.” Its message bears repeating, because, in retrospect, it has become prescient to what we see occurring with the spread of omicron.
In essence, the likes of this state’s governor advocating that personal liberty and self-determination supersede vaccine mandates is foolish and errantly thought out. But this logic also has corrupted itself when there is a national public-health emergency affecting every citizen, vaccinated or not.
In a Supreme Court case at the start of the 20th century, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upholding the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws involving the control of smallpox in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the court wrote, “But the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States … does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint. There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good … Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own [liberty], whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.”
The high court will have an opportunity to test this century-old thinking Jan. 7 when it conducts oral arguments on a very expedited basis in consolidated cases contesting a COVID-19 vaccination mandate issued to protect employees by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency tasked with assuring a safe and healthful workplace. In early November, the agency issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) “…to protect the health of employees by mitigating spread of this historically unprecedented virus in the workplace.” The ETS does not require anyone to be vaccinated, but allows covered employers — ones with 100 or more employees — to determine for themselves how best to protect their workforce from contracting COVID-19. These options include workers being vaccinated, working exclusively from home, and wearing masks for those not vaccinated but tested weekly. Many employers have already required their workers to be vaccinated.
In upholding the ETS, one federal appeals court in Cincinnati wrote earlier this month, “The COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked havoc across America, leading to the loss of over 800,000 lives, shutting down workplaces and jobs across the country, and threatening our economy … Despite access to vaccines and better testing, however, the virus rages on, mutating into different variants, and posing new risks.” So true, but now the high court will wade in despite it previously turning away similar challenges brought to overturn state and local mandates in Indiana, New York and Maine.
Sure, each one of us has a right to do what we deem appropriate for our bodies and our health, but the consideration for that freedom in our democracy comes at a price when a disease like the coronavirus pandemic — now omicron — cares not whether one is vaccinated or not. Those remaining unvaccinated can only blame themselves for becoming ill and bearing the brunt of where their sickness takes them.
But, for those that have chosen the wiser and more prudent route of getting our arm pokes, we remain vulnerable too, particularly because of those choosing the unvaccinated route.