Vaccine Mandates: Court Precedents Support State Mandated Vaccines

Vaccine mandates are perhaps the most contentious issue of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down President Joe Biden’s controversial vaccine or test mandate for large businesses. Unfortunately, for those concerned about vaccine mandates, this ruling provides a false sense of relief. 

The morality of COVID-19 vaccine mandates can be debated all day, but the legality is clear — employers and states can legally mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. This is not an argument for or against mandates. Rather, it is an argument that constitutional and legal vaccine mandates exist in a time where the “unconstitutional” label is irresponsibly tossed around.

Biden’s mandate was denied because the Supreme Court said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the executive agency through which the mandate was enforced, is meant to “set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.” The mandate was not denied simply because workplaces cannot mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.

The entire basis of a vaccine mandate’s legality is built upon the jurisdiction that makes them legal. Although the federal government does not have the power to legislate public health, states and smaller localities have had the legal precedent for mandatory vaccinations for over a century.

In the 1905 Supreme Court case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the court ruled that Massachusetts could mandate the smallpox vaccine because protecting public health is a state police power. Those that did not take the vaccine were fined, and legally so, after the ruling. Mandatory vaccinations in states have been constitutional ever since, and the same legality applies to the coronavirus vaccine, according to the American Bar Association.

Building off this legal precedent, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published that employers can mandate vaccinations, including for COVID-19, assuming the state allows private businesses to do so. This commission strikes a balance between mandating a vaccine while providing an exemption for those hesitant.

Equal Employment Opportunity laws do allow for religious exemptions for employees if sincere or of a religious nature. This provision is key for many who are uncomfortable taking the COVID-19 vaccine for whatever reason. The religious exemption must be stressed as an intentional freedom for workers.

Also, many employers hire workers on an employment-at-will basis, meaning an employer can fire an employee for any reason barring specific legal exemptions. “Any reason” may include not taking the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the director of the World Health Organization’s Center On Global Health Law.

Public health laws can vary from state to state. Some states allow private businesses to decide whether to mandate vaccines, while other states use their legal authority to mandate vaccines for businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, etc. 

Texas and Florida, along with seven other states, allow employers to implement vaccine mandates but require a religious exemption or opt-out, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. New York City requires proof of vaccination for an employee to enter their workplace, and California and Louisiana require age-eligible students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school in person.

Vaccine mandates have been around, albeit seemingly forgotten, for a long time. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that all 50 states require some list of vaccines for students to attend school. 

When I went to the doctor’s office as a child, I had to take several vaccines because it was required for school. Before I started college, I had to get more vaccines to be allowed to attend. States have long been able to require these for public safety, but the politicization of the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccines has caused us to forget how common vaccine mandates are. 

America is the land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but the protection of public health has always been important in the United States. Even George Washington forced the Continental Army to receive a smallpox inoculation in 1777. There is 250 years of vaccine mandate precedence in the U.S.

Today, states can legally mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. Employers in certain states can mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. Regardless of an individual’s feelings toward the shot or mandates, this legal precedent has been consistent throughout history. 

browder  is an opinion writer.