Vaccine Mandate Con – 

Aiden Chandler, Prowl Associate Editor

100 million. Roughly the population of present-day Egypt. Nearly the same amount of followers as Charli D’Amelio. Coincidentally, it is also the number of Americans who will be forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a result of President Joe Biden’s latest executive order.

On Thursday, Sept. 9, President Biden announced his plan to make the vaccine mandatory for all federally employed workers, affecting nearly a third of the nation’s population.

Lawyers and lawmakers across the country are ready to push back against this mandate to protect their civil liberty.

“We will not tolerate Biden’s tyrannical rule,” Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a Sep. 13 press release. “The lines are clear, this is Joe Biden’s unlawful agenda versus the American people. We will win this fight and protect the foundational principles that make our country great.”

The unlawful agenda Wilson refers to is HIPAA- or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The Center for Disease Control sheds some light on the HIPPA.

“Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information. . . established a set of national standards to address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information,” the CDC said. “Organizations subject to the Privacy Rule—called ‘covered entities’ – as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.”

Part of HIPPA addresses citizens’ rights to choose whether or not they are vaccinated, but more importantly their privacy rights against ‘vaccine passports.’

Vaccine passports are exactly what they sound like- required documents that, if the Biden administration were to have their way, every citizen would be required to carry in order to reopen businesses.

“The government or other authorities can’t physically force you to get vaccinated,” an article from WebMD said. “A vaccine mandate just means that if you don’t, businesses, schools, and others can legally stop you from entering the building or using their services if they choose to.”

Legally, a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine cannot be forced on the American public, nor should the government be allowed to dictate what American citizens must be required to put in their bodies.

If this mandate becomes a reality, Republicans from across the country are prepared to take legal action against the government.

“[We are prepared] to seek every available legal option to hold [Biden] accountable and uphold the rule of law.” 

Vaccine Mandate Pro – 

Isabella Gomez, Prowl Reporter

President Joe Biden created a vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors and increased the COVID-19 regulations for large businesses. These regulations require businesses with over 100 people to either provide weekly negative COVID-19 tests or require vaccinations of the workers.

“Four million more people got their first shot in August than they did in July, but we need to do more,” President Biden said. “This is not about freedom or personal choice, it’s about protecting yourself and those around you.”

These are the words said leading up to the president’s announcement of the future increased COVID-19 regulations. Biden states that these choices are about protecting your community.

 The concept of utilizing vaccines to increase community virus protection is not new. In fact, the United States has released statements relating to it before now. 

“Germs can travel quickly through a community and make a lot of people sick. If enough people get sick, it can lead to an outbreak,” the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said. “But when enough people are vaccinated against a certain disease, the germs can’t travel as easily from person to person — and the entire community is less likely to get the disease.”

It’s important to keep the people around you safe, and spreading germs at work can hinder that. Before Biden announced future COVID-19 guidelines, the CDC published a list of reasons vaccination can be beneficial to everyone in the workforce. 

 “Keeping the workforce healthy by preventing employees from getting COVID-19, [Reducing] absences due to illness, [Improving] productivity, [and improving] morale.”

In addition to keeping the community safe, Biden’s vaccine mandate will cause an increase in safety when it comes to travel. 

It’s hard to pick and choose who you’re around when you partake in air travel or public transportation, and so a higher vaccination rate can help reassure safety while commuting. 

In an interview with Boston.Com, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, Ashish Jha shared why he was uncomfortable traveling without vaccine mandates in place for air travel.

“We sat inches apart for a 5 1/2 hour flight with her variably masked,” Jha said. “I don’t love sitting next to an unvaccinated, unmasked person for hours. Why do I care? I’d rather not get a breakthrough infection.”

Overall, there are many reasons for Americans to look forward to these increased regulations. Once implemented, this federal vaccine mandate will provide safety for citizens no matter who or where they are.