Can the Government Force You to Get a COVID Vaccine?

We’re going a little off topic today to present a discussion about something we’ve all been wondering about.

Over the past few weeks, our country received news we’ve all been hoping for: Pfizer and Moderna have successfully developed a Covid 19 vaccine. Health care workers will be first to receive the vaccine, and it could be months before the majority of Americans are eligible to receive the vaccine.

But this good news begs the question: Can the Government force us all to get the vaccine?

It turns out, the United States Supreme Court has dealt with this issue before. In fact, it has dealt with this exact issue and decided the case of Jacobson v. Massachussetts over 100 years ago in 1905.

The Jacobson case involved a challenge to a vaccine mandate that took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the late 1800s, the state faced a smallpox epidemic. To help combat the epidemic, health officials required everyone to get a smallpox vaccine. Failure to receive the vaccine resulted in a fine. The regulations allowed for exemptions for people who were medically unable to receive the vaccine.

Mr. Jacobson did not have any health issues, he just objected to the government requiring citizens to get vaccinated. He claimed it violated the 14th Amendment, as well as the “spirit” of the Constitution. His case made its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Court ruled 7-2 against Mr. Jacobson. The opinion, authored by Justice John Marshall Harlan, contains language that has been quoted to this day. Justice Harlan pointed out that every state has an inherent “police power”—the authority to regulate the health and safety of its citizens. “According to settled principles, the police power of a state must be held to embrace, at least, such reasonable regulations established directly by legislative enactment as will protect the public health and the public safety.” Further, Justice Harlan says that the “mode or manner in which those results are to be accomplished is within the discretion of the state, subject of course, so far as federal power is concerned, only to the condition that no rule shall…contravene the Constitution of the United States.”

While Mr. Jacobson argued that a forced vaccine mandate violated his freedom, Justice Harlan rejected this argument by pointing out that “there are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good. . . it is a fundamental principle that persons and property are subjected to all kinds of restraints and burdens in order to secure the general comfort, health, and prosperity of the state.”

The Jacobson case concluded that an absolute vaccine mandate would not be appropriate. If an individual could show that he or she was “unfit” for vaccination due to medical or other reason, he/she would be excused from receiving the vaccine. Mr. Jacobson presented no such evidence, and therefore his case was rejected.

Many courts throughout the country have relied on Jacobson v. Massachusetts to support facemask and stay-at-home orders throughout the country during the Covid 19 pandemic. Jacobson v. Massachusetts is still valid precedent, even though the case is more than 100 years old.

So far, there have not been reports of federal, state, or local government intentions to force citizens to get the Covid vaccine. If that becomes the case, we are certain to see challenges to what many would argue is government overreach. But these challenges are likely to fail in light of Jacobson v. Massachusetts and its 100-year plus trail of precedent dealing with public health crises.

The opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone. I am not a Constitutional law expert, although one prominent Constitutional law scholar agrees with me. Please do not rely on this discussion as legal advice for your situation if you have concerns regarding a vaccine mandate.

Stay safe everyone. For questions about your Los Angeles accident case, the Rabbi Lawyer is ready to assist, 24/6.