ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Why the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandated

Julia Brok
Student number 504323
 ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Why the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandated

Julia Bernarda Anna Brok

Saxion University of Applied
Sciences
Enschede, The Netherlands
Subject: Cultural &

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Contents
Outline................................................................................................................................................... 3
The essay............................................................................................................................................... 5
Bibliography........................................................................................................................................... 8
Quickscan.............................................................................................................................................. 9

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Outline
This argumentative essay will begin by introducing the covid-19 topic and why it such a crucial
matter to contribute to collective immunization. It will then discuss the statement mentioned in the
introduction which says that it should be mandatory to take the Covid-19 vaccination. Finally, the
efficacy and efficiency of the vaccine is explained and will be considered from a number of
standpoints.

Intro
Topic area: Why COVID-19 vaccines should be a legal obligation
Case study: A global vaccination imperative
Thesis statement: Taking the Covid-19 vaccination should be mandatory as it increases vaccination
coverage and meets public health goals.

Argument areas: (1) Safety (2) Violating human rights

Paragraph 1:
Claim 1: Change the individual mindset that governments limit freedom when there is a vaccination
obligation, and prevent harm to others
Support: Singer (2021)

Paragraph 2:
Counter claim 1: People do not want to take the vaccine as there are concerns that testing has been
rushed and the vaccine may not be safe or effective.
Support: Thompson (2021)

Paragraph 3:
Refutation 1: Researchers were able to accelerate development thanks to collaboration between
scientists, manufacturers and distributors.
Support: Australian Government (2021)

Paragraph 4:
Claim 2: In addition to mandating the entire globe to take the vaccine, is that it is an absolute
imperative that all health-care providers must be immunized.
Support: Center for Disease Control (2021)

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Paragraph 5:
Counter claim 2: Making vaccination mandatory restricts people's freedom of choice and is a
violation of human rights.
Support: Todd (2021)

Paragraph 6:
Refutation: However, vaccines allow us to engage in society again, to circulate back in the world, and
give the feeling of being human again.
Support: Ferguson et al. (2021)

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Date: 27th of October 2021

Covid-19 vaccination should be made a legal obligation

It is widely known that vaccines are one of the most effective ways to protect people from Covid-19
infection, and therefore vaccination is an imperative duty that should become a legal obligation. It is
about protecting others and contributing to collective immunity (Musch, 2020). Given the pressure
that the coronavirus places on the health care system, it is clear why it is so crucial. It is a matter of
justice to which everyone must contribute. To protect the well-being of people or communities,
governments and institutions sometimes impose certain actions or patterns of behaviour. Such
actions may be ethically justified as they are crucial to protect the health and welfare of the public.
Contemporary forms of "mandatory vaccination" force vaccination by directly or indirectly
threatening restrictions in the event of noncompliance. Despite its name, "mandatory vaccination" is
not truly obligated, non-compliance is not accompanied by coercion or threat of criminal sanctions.
However, "mandatory vaccination" policies significantly restrict individual choice by making
vaccination a requirement for some sectors, for example, education or employment in certain
settings, such as health care (World Health Organization, 2021). Consequently, taking the Covid-19
vaccination should be mandatory as it increases vaccination coverage and meets public health goals.

Change the individual mindset that governments limit freedom when there is a vaccination
obligation, and prevent harm to others. This is a statement supported by moral philosopher Mr.
Singer. He noted that although 50 years ago seat belt legislation was met with great objections,
today few people complain about such a common-sense rule. The oddity, here, is that laws requiring
us to wear seat belts really are quite straightforwardly infringing on freedom, whereas laws requiring
people to be vaccinated if they are going to be in places where they could infect other people are
restricting one kind of freedom in order to protect the freedom of others to go about their business
safely. In mandating vaccination against Covid-19, governments can invoke the same basic
justification for protecting both individuals and society (Singer, 2021).

Conversely, people do not want to take the vaccine as there are concerns that testing has been
rushed and the vaccine may not be safe or effective. Many people say the main reason they are not
being vaccinated against Covid-19 is because of the lack of long-term data on the safety and efficacy
of the vaccines. Along with the reason that vaccines have received emergency use authorisation
only, because their clinical trials won’t be completed until 2023 (Thompson, 2021). Therefore,
people do not want to take part of the world’s largest clinical trial.

It may seem that vaccines were developed quickly, but researchers around the world worked hard to
develop vaccines from the earliest stages of the pandemic. They were able to accelerate
development thanks to collaboration between scientists, manufacturers and distributors. The
planning stages for development and implementation were carried out side by side, rather than one
after the other. This was made possible by unprecedented global funding. In addition, research on
pandemic response was taking place long before Covid-19 (Australian Government, 2021).

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Another ethical dilemma, in addition to mandating the entire globe to take the vaccine, is that it is
an absolute imperative that all health-care providers must be immunized. Healthcare workers are at
risk of exposure to, and transmission of, serious, and sometimes deadly, diseases. When working
directly with patients or handle material that could spread infection, it should be mandated to get
recommended vaccines to reduce the chance to spread vaccine-preventable diseases. So far, there
have been around 5 million deaths attributed to Covid-19 globally (as of 29 October 2021) (JHU CSSE,
2021). The majority of these cases have not gotten the vaccine, with one the reasons being that
people still think Covid-19 is similar to the flu. In contrast, the morbidity and mortality of Covid-19
far exceeds that of influenza. The mortality rate for influenza is 1 in 1,000. For Covid-19, it is closer to
1 in 250 (Klompas, Pearson, & Morris, 2021). Between April and mid-July 2021, the CDC (Centers for
Disease Control) evaluated 600,000 instances of Covid-19 in thirteen different U.S. states. According
to the findings, those who have not been vaccinated are up to eleven times more likely to die as a
result of coronavirus infection. In addition, the risk of hospitalization when individuals get infected is
10 times higher than when people are vaccinated (Walensky, 2021). This leads to
overburdened hospitals, as non-vaccinated health personnel are withdrawn from essential, urgently
needed positions. When health care workers are not vaccinated, they cannot work in environments
where they are badly needed, such as overloaded hospitals. Health care personnel who have not
been vaccinated may not be exposed to the virus to a great extent. This causes health care
professionals to either stay at home or be transferred to institutions with lower risks during
outbreaks. This is a crisis for hospitals that lack the necessary resources and must rely on everyone
to save lives. Not only should vaccination be mandatory to protect one's personal health and well-
being, but it should also be required to protect and reduce harm to others.

Making vaccination mandatory restricts people's freedom of choice and is a violation of human
rights. Human rights are the rights that everyone possesses simply by virtue of existing, regardless of
who they are and where they are. These include rights such as freedom of opinion and expression
and the right to freedom of religion (Todd, 2021). Many people have sincere religious beliefs
regarding vaccines in general. These people believe that God designed the human body as a temple,
and that the body should not be damaged by injecting a virus into it. A great part of society think
that vaccination mandates imply the loss of human rights and freedom. People who are concerned
about vaccination requirements interfering with their rights may be referring to both types of
concerns: the freedom to refuse vaccination for personal, ideological, or religious reasons, and the
right to be protected from harm because some believe the vaccines are not safe. Another possible
concern with the introduction of vaccines regards privacy. People have a right to privacy. If vaccine
mandates allow governments or companies to collect and store digitally extraneous information,
that would be a problem. However, in any case, it makes little difference if a few individuals refuse
to get vaccinated; if the great majority of the population is protected against a disease, there will be
too few carriers for the illness to become endemic, therefore the risk to those who refuse to be
vaccinated is minimal.

However, vaccines allow us to engage in society again, to circulate back in the world, and give the
feeling of being human again. Therefore, strategies such as implementing passports and mandating
vaccines should be seen as freedom promoters. They bring about freedom rather than deplete it.
These strategies are usually described as restrictions on freedom. But with their ability to ensure
adequate vaccination rates, they actually preserve, nurture and promote freedom. A successful
vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will free us, as individuals and as a collective, from the
ruthless grip of the pandemic whose end does not seem to be in sight (Ferguson & Caplan, 2021).
We will have achieved herd immunity when all have been vaccinated. Herd immunity occurs when a
large portion of a community becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from
person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected, not just those who
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are immune (Mayo Clinic, 2021). The percentage that must be achieved to immunize a community
varies by disease. The more contagious a disease is, the greater the proportion of the population
that needs to be immune to the disease to interrupt the chain of transmission. Some people may
object to getting a Covid-19 vaccine because of religious objections, fear of the potential risks, or
skepticism about privacy. But if the percentage of vaccinated people in a community is below the
herd immunity threshold, the infectious disease can continue to spread. So, it does make a
difference when individuals refuse to get vaccinated. As far as privacy is concerned, a person’s
vaccination status is personal information and so falls under the protections laid out in the Privacy
Act 2020. However, there are limited situations where an employer can ask for the vaccination
status of an employee where they have a legitimate need to know. Justifiable reasons to ask for this
can include a legitimate health and safety concern, or where certain roles must be performed by a
vaccinated worker, such as staff at an MIQ facility (Davis, 2021).

Taking the Covid-19 vaccination, will put an end to this endlessly long pandemic. The world will have
achieved herd immunity when all have been vaccinated. This means that the majority of the
population needs to be immune in order to interrupt the chain of transmission of this disease.
Therefore, the Covid-19 vaccination should be mandatory as it increases vaccination coverage and
meets public health goals. Individuals' mindset about the government limiting their freedom and
human rights when vaccination is mandated, causes indirect harm to others. Some might be
concerned that testing has been rushed and the vaccine may not be safe or effective. However,
researchers from all across the world worked extremely hard from the beginning of the epidemic to
create vaccines. Thanks to collaboration between scientists, manufacturers, and distributors, they
were able to accelerate development. This was made possible by unprecedented funding worldwide.
In addition to requiring the entire world to take the vaccine, health care providers are completely
obligated to be immune. Health care workers are at greater risk of exposure to, and transmission of,
this serious deadly disease. When working directly with patients or handle material that could
spread infection, it should be mandated to get recommended vaccines to reduce the chance to
spread vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Bibliography
Australian Government. (2021, May 11). Were COVID-19 vaccines developed too quickly to be safe.
Retrieved from health.gov: https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-
vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-were-covid-19-vaccines-developed-too-quickly-to-be-safe

Davis, P. (2021, July 29). The COVID-19 vaccination and privacy rights. Retrieved from privacy.org:
https://www.privacy.org.nz/blog/the-covid-19-vaccination-and-privacy-rights/

Ferguson, K., & Caplan, A. (2021, August 24). Don't COVID Vaccine Mandates Actually Promote
Freedom? Retrieved from medpagetoday.com:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/94189

JHU CSSE. (2021, October 28). Statistics. Retrieved from Google.com:

https://www.google.com/search?
q=how+many+deaths+of+covid&oq=how+many+deaths+of+&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i5
12l8.4641j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Klompas, M., Pearson, M., & Morris, C. (2021, July 13). 8 Reasons Why COVD-19 Vaccination Should
Be Mandatory for Healthcare Workers. Retrieved from managedhealthcareexecutive.com:
https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/8-reasons-why-covd-19-vaccination-
should-be-mandatory-for-healthcare-workers

Mayo Clinic. (2021, August 28). mayoclinic.org. Retrieved from Herd immunity and COVID-19:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-
coronavirus/art-20486808

Musch, S. (2020, 3 July). Moet vaccinatie verplicht worden? Retrieved from amnesty.nl:
https://www.amnesty.nl/wordt-vervolgd/moet-vaccinatie-verplicht-worden

Singer, P. (2021, Augustus 4). Why Vaccination Should be Compulsory. Retrieved from project-
syndicate.or: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-covid-vaccine-should-
be-compulsory-by-peter-singer-2021-08?utm_source=Project%20Syndicate
%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=537c05b05d-
covid_newsletter_08_12_2021&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73bad5b7d8-
537c05b05d-1

Thompson, S. (2021, Augustus 19). Why we’re not getting the Covid-19 vaccine. Retrieved from IT:
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/why-we-re-not-getting-the-covid-
19-vaccine-irish-times-readers-share-their-reasons-1.4650503

Todd, S. (2021, August 5). Do mandatory vaccines violate human rights? Retrieved from qz.com:
https://qz.com/2042743/do-mandatory-vaccines-violate-human-rights/

Walensky, R. (2021, July 27). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from cdc.gov:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html

World Health Organization. (2021, April 13). COVID-19 and mandatory vaccination; ethical
considerations and caveats. Retrieved from World Health Organization:
file:///C:/Users/juult/Downloads/WHO-2019-nCoV-Policy-brief-Mandatory-vaccination-
2021.1-eng.pdf

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Julia Brok

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