Vaccine mandate backlash raises concerns over other health crises

Explosive disputes over the mandates of COVID-19 vaccines are raising concerns in the public health community that previously weak opposition to other required vaccines could quickly gain traction.

Health experts say the rejection of routine vaccines could trigger preventable public health crises, including the re-emergence of disease outbreaks like measles and mumps.

In addition, the growing reviews of President BidenJoe BidenSunday Shows Sneak Peek: Coronavirus Dominates As Country Battles Delta Variant Has President Biden instituted a vaccine mandate for only half of the country’s teachers? Democrats look at vaccine mandates ahead of midterm MOREThe vaccination mandate of the GOP governors is seen by some as giving more legitimacy and momentum to the anti-vaccine movement and its resistance to demanding vaccines of any kind, even for children and members of the military.

If more parents decide to refrain from routine immunization of their children, experts warn, childhood immunity rates for certain diseases like measles could fall below the herd immunity threshold, allowing them to fall below the herd immunity threshold. spread more easily.

“Now we could potentially re-enter an era where we have endemic transmission of these diseases that we no longer transmit in the population,” said Jonathan Berman, assistant professor in the department of basic sciences at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT).

The anti-vaccine movement began long before COVID-19 took hold, but the pandemic has offered activists an opportunity to strengthen their ranks by taking advantage of people’s concerns and uncertainties amid the evolving nature of the coronavirus and of the government’s response.

The Digital Hate Center Anti-Vaxx Playbook, released last year, said vaccine opponents promoted three key messages to circulate skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, including that the virus is not that serious, vaccines are dangerous and that people shouldn’t trust doctors.

Vaccine debate has intensified in the past 10 days after Biden announced that all private employers with 100 or more employees, it would require weekly vaccines or tests, a decision that will impact millions of workers. The announcement was the subject of an immediate reaction from many Republicans who criticized the policy as the government went too far.

representing Tom mcclintockThomas (Tom) Milller McClintock Vaccine Mandate Backlash Raises Concerns Over Other Health Crises Google Postpones Cookie Phasing Until 2023 | Appeals court rules against Baltimore Police Department aerial surveillance program MORE (R-Calif.) Commented directly on the requirement for other vaccines during a House judicial markup last week.

“So, in this brave new world of Big Brother Biden, what is stopping the government from forcing every American to get the flu shot or tetanus or hepatitis or shingles?” He asked. “The president warns that his patience is running out. Mr. Biden, our patience as Americans is running out.

Such arguments are seen by some experts as qualifying the government’s vaccine mandates of any kind overbroad.

This position also plays into the conservative narrative of “left-wing authoritarianism,” which NYIT’s Berman said he expects “to be exploited” by anti-vaccine proponents “with great effect.”

The Supreme Court suspended vaccination warrants over a century ago, in 1905, for a Massachusetts smallpox vaccination requirement, meaning any legislation banning the practice would conflict with long-standing precedent. .

Dan Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it’s difficult to predict what will happen in response to Biden’s tenure because the United States has “no precedent in making compulsory a vaccine that a quarter of the population does not want.

“Having worked in this area for decades, I fear this could create a backlash, and it could spill over beyond COVID vaccines to other vaccines and other laws such as those for commonly required vaccines for children. “, did he declare.

A majority of Americans have expressed approval for vaccination mandates in workplaces, schools, and sporting events; 52 percent of respondents in a recent Economist / YouGov poll said they supported Biden’s demand.

Months after the vaccine became widely available, nearly three-quarters of the eligible population have received at least one dose, and 63.6% are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But more than 70 million people aged 12 and over have yet to receive a vaccine, and those under 12 are still ineligible, leaving much of the population at risk of serious illness from COVID- 19.

Meanwhile, the CDC said routine immunizations for children and adolescents dropped significantly in the early months of the pandemic while people were staying at home. The rate rose in the summer and fall of 2020, but not to levels high enough to offset the earlier drop, according to a study released in June.

Timothy Callaghan, assistant professor of health policy at the Texas A&M School of Public Health, said it is not clear at this point whether the decrease is due to reluctance to vaccinate or to a greater number of people avoiding doctor’s offices during the pandemic.

But it’s “certainly possible” that those who view Biden’s tenure as overbreadth may question the government’s ability to demand vaccines in general, he said.

“I think it’s too early to say whether this specific model will take hold or not, but it’s definitely a concern,” Callaghan said. “That said, the benefits of these warrants probably far outweigh the risks, given the need to vaccinate as many people as possible against COVID-19 to enable us to weather the pandemic. “