Opinion Essay: Why Covid Vaccine Mandates Are Unconstitutional?

The Covid- 19 pandemic started on March 13, 2020, and Dr. Fauci recommended we social distance, wear masks and only go out when necessary. What began as a mask mandate, quickly escalated into a vaccine mandate.  As we emerge from this pandemic, New York recently lifted the nearly 2-year mask mandate on March 2, 2022. As the mask mandate started to relax, more focus was placed on vaccination. When this occurred, restaurants in New York City and concert venues began requiring a mask and proof of vaccination status for attendance. At the beginning of the vaccine mandate, only two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine were required.  Once people received the vaccine, as stated above, they were considered fully vaccinated. At the beginning of 2022 being fully vaccinated required a third dose of vaccine called a booster.  This booster was required because science ascertained that the vaccine was losing its viability.

Currently, this virus has evolved into a different strain.  The omicron variant has shown to be slightly less virulent and is producing symptoms of the common cold.  However, vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are still contracting this new strain of COVID-19. This led to the rapid spreading of the OMICRON strain of the virus. This led to the importance of the vaccine mandate as it was another form of protection. Those who choose not to be vaccinated became vilified. Those individuals were seen as selfish even though every individual could choose what was right for them. People who chose not to participate in the vaccine program were prevented from participating in many activities.  Many people started to believe that the vaccination could mess up their natural immunity. Whereas on the other hand, many individuals were lining up to get the third dose.  This led to a great divide amongst the population, the vaccinated vs the unvaccinated.

The vaccine mandate for federal workers was vetoed on February 10, 2022, and ruled unconstitutional. Haskins argued the opposing side, stating that the vaccine mandates placed onto the general public had “no constitutional provision” even under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which was created for workplace safety (Haskins 2021). In the same perspective, Ganske stated that “Congress could provide financial incentives to states to enact mandates [and possibly] regulate vaccine requirements … but these actions would face legal challenges based on the 10th Amendment’s prohibition” (2022).  However, the vaccine mandate was considered constitutional based upon the Supremacy Clause. This Supremacy Clause is the final decision process of the Supreme Court. This is the difference between the state and national levels, which established a lower federal court system according to the Judiciary Act of 1789 (Kernell et al. 62).

In this case, the vaccine mandate went to the higher level of court, the national court, as it affected everyone. In the past vaccine mandates such as Washington v. Harper which involved the personal liberties of non-consent of forcible medications, and Jacobson v. Massachusetts about the smallpox vaccine (Ganske 2022). Both of these cases defended the person’s autonomy, the right to choose what goes into an individual's body (Ganske 2022). The 14th Amendment states the due process, privileges, and equal protection for every American citizen. However, laws can be put into action or changed, based on a reanalysis of the current situation. This can imply the vaccine mandate could be considered constitutional down the line. Kernell et al. state the Supreme Court power to overrule federal laws is still unclear (62), but the constitution provides guidelines for what is and is not constitutional, and can impede certain federal behaviors” (103).

In some cases, the power of the Supreme Court seems to be too much, as they have jurisdiction over every law placed in society. The power of the Supreme Court is ruled by the Democratic party rather than the Republican party after the most recent election in 2020. Personal biases can overrule the ideals of laws within society, and make irrational decisions that are not necessarily the best for society as a whole. That brings me to the point that Congress had ruled that based on the Constitution, the Supreme Court should have enumerated powers, specific authority to the national government (Kernell et al. 103). The mandate debate should reflect the public health of society rather than personal biases.