The New York State Bar Association on Saturday voted to approve a resolution urging the state to make Covid-19 mRNA vaccinations mandatory for all New Yorkers — even those who object for “religious, philosophical or personal reasons.”
The bar association met on Saturday to vote on the mandatory recommendation if voluntary Covid-19 vaccinations fail to produce satisfactory immunity levels in the population.
If the state adopts the Bar’s recommendations, every New Yorker will be forced to line up when the vaccines become available.
The timing of the NYSBA’s vote — coming just four days after the presidential elections — seems suspicious to some objectors.
“The authority of the state to respond to a public health crisis is well-established in constitutional law,” said Mary Beth Morrissey, chair of the Health Law Section’s Task Force on COVID-19.
Among the NYSBA’s recommendations is releasing older inmates and prisoners with disabilities and serious illnesses who do not pose a danger to the community.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has a vaccine in development for months, said multiple vaccinations per person will be necessary to achieve immunity.
The normal timeline for vaccine development is three years.
Gates said Black people and healthcare workers should be first in line to receive the mandatory injections.
Interestingly, Gates disabled comments under this post.
I look forward to working with the new administration and leaders on both sides in Congress on getting the surging pandemic under control, engaging partners around the world on issues like poverty and climate change, and addressing issues of inequality and opportunity at home.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) November 7, 2020
