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Is there going to be a mandate to receive a vaccine, given that this virus is so contagious?
While there is a concern, that there will be a segment of the general population who will refuse an approved coronavirus vaccine either because of an anti-vaccine ideology (referred to “anti-vaxxers”) or because of a simple fear to try of a “new” vaccine, there will almost certainly be no legal mandate to get the vaccine. In the first instance, there is a hope that there will be enough citizens who will desire to be vaccinated. Second, short of a mandate, as a last resort, there may be consequences for failure to vaccinate. Historically, in the example of the small pox vaccines when small pox was highly contagious, some states and cities imposed the payment of a fine for refusal to vaccinate. Those fines were upheld in court, most famously in a seminal United States Supreme Court in 1905, Jacobson v. Massachusetts. As you may know, several states now require travelers coming from states with high infection rates to quarantine to gain entry to a state. New York, for example, Is patrolling entry to that state over tunnels and bridges to require travelers from states with a high infection rate to quarantine for fourteen days as a condition of entry. One could imagine that it a traveler from a state with a high infection rate, could show that he or she has been vaccinated with a coronavirus vaccine, he or she would be relieved of the quarantine requirement. In sum, however, mandatory coronavirus vaccination would likely only be a policy of the very last resort; and it is unlikely.
