Covid-19 Vaccines & Students
With there now being speculation about students needing vaccine jabs before returning to university in September, it is time to talk about and neutrally analyse in-depth potentially the most significant human rights debate of our lifetimes. Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with the covid vaccination progress, anyone who believes that mandatory vaccines for students does not need discussion or neutral analysis is surely too biased in one direction or the other.
Now… if you speak to anyone who has not been living under a rock for the last year you will likely already know what the three sides to this story are.
In the most neutral camp, you have those sat on the fence, they understand that covid is real and potentially a threat, they are interested in the vaccine but question the long-term efficacy and safety. They may wish to wait until further vaccine data comes out, but understand that during this time they may be infected by covid and this may cause problems.
Next, you have the people who are opposed to the vaccine. These people often argue that they hold this viewpoint because: the vaccine was rushed, it only has temporary authorisation at the moment and phase 3 trials are still being monitored, many side-effects have already been reported to VAERS/yellow-card reporting, there is a lack of long-term safety and efficacy data, credible virologists and mRNA researchers such as Dr Robert Malone have expressed concern and that there is a relatively high global covid survival rate. There are also more speculative and radical arguments, such as the vaccine is ‘poison’ or ‘gene therapy’, big Pharma has only done all this to make a big profit, world governments do not care about our health and are pushing this too hard, the spike protein is cytotoxic, and so on.
Finally, you have those who are pro-vaccine and who likely view the above as moronic conspiracy theorists wearing tin foil hats. These people believe in and trust ‘the science’. They trust this because: there was a global scientific effort last year which effectively received unlimited funding, reported safety data so far has been very low-risk/largely encouraging, the basis of many of the vaccines (RNA) has been researched for decades, severe side-effects for vaccines typically show up in the short-term (and it has been months now), the risks so far of any side-effects are much less than any risks posed by covid, the vaccines may help reduce transmissibility and slow variants from emerging, the vaccines cannot alter your genes or DNA, the protein made by the cells after the vaccine cannot ‘replicate in your body with no off switch’ because it is usually broken down by the body within weeks. Wider arguments include having the vaccine for ‘the greater good’ and believing that it is our only way out of the pandemic.
Now… who is right?
As this is an unprecedented event it is difficult to say and the answer is going to be largely subjective and dependent upon long-term data. If you trust the science and believe in the vaccine, you are going to believe that you are right. If you are sceptical and do not believe in the vaccine, you will believe that you are right. At present, from what has been factually reported (not saying that this is the correct answer or that this will always be the case), it appears that any risks from the vaccines are less than any risks from covid. However, does this mean that you should be forced to have the jab without question just to enter the lecture room? Again, this is likely to be a matter of opinion (polls we have run indicate some law students agree and some disagree).
In any other circumstances, it is a no-brainer that informed consent is required for any medical treatment – coercion, duress or forced treatment is a big NO! This is largely covered by fundamental human rights (such as Article 8 your right to a private life & others regarding treatment/discrimination) as well as domestic legislation. However, in the current covid situation, the principle of proportionality regarding the public good & general health must be considered. Looking at the deaths from covid for younger people (for students aged 20-24) there has been 27 female deaths and 39 male deaths, out of the total 113,862 deaths in the UK at the time of writing (taken from official gov.uk stats). In this context, it would appear on the face of it somewhat radical, at least definitely challengeable legally, to impose a forced vaccination upon this age group for education. Now, of course, several counter arguments can be made, such as the fact that technically the vaccination is not being forced (though this law would undoubtedly indirectly create a two-tier class of students, as those unvaccinated would likely have to learn from home), the pandemic is a global issue, the fact that younger deaths may increase as more variants emerge, and so on.
HOWEVER, whichever side of the fence you are sitting on, one thing remains clear…
There can be no doubt that the thought of requiring vaccines to attend lectures is highly controversial and will, no doubt, be challenged legally if it ever comes into play. We will ALL be watching this space very closely, but in the meantime, everyone must voice their view (whatever it is) globally so that we can have an open and honest discussion about how we should all move forward. Immediately labelling anyone anything for simply having an opinion (even if you think it is wrong) or asking questions in an attempt to understand the opinions of others is NOT the way forward. We are a Law Student community (and yes, as Law Tutors we are included! Haha) –Â lets start acting like it!