SUMMARY: Marci Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Constitution, said, “The Constitution is not a suicide pact guaranteeing a right to harm others. The government has the latitude to protect citizens from deadly conditions, especially when the science supporting vaccination is so clear”. We, as a nation, can not allow ignorance and stupidity to endanger us all.
(Via CNN) In the 1905 Supreme Court decision Jacobson v. Massachusetts the court ruled against a man who had refused to be vaccinated against smallpox, stating: “Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each person to use his own (liberty), whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.” That same principle was apparent when Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who is thought to be a strong rights advocate, left standing Indiana University’s vaccine mandate.
It is reckless at this point for the government not to mandate vaccination. Some politicians have falsely told Americans that they have a constitutional right to refuse vaccination. This is a license to potentially infect others with a deadly disease when the Supreme Court has consistently held otherwise.
President Biden’s aggressive move to expand the number of vaccinated Americans and halt the spread of the Delta variant is not just an effort to save lives. It is also an attempt to counter the continuing and evolving threat that the virus poses to the economy.
Of the 185,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in June and July, an estimated 98.3% were for people who skipped out on getting vaccinated. The KFF projects that 113,000 of these hospitalizations would have been prevented had they gotten the jab.
The cost of all COVID-19 hospitalizations is not publicly available; various sources point to an average hospitalization cost of around $20,000. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that Medicare fee-for-service COVID-19 hospitalizations average $24,033. Another study of Medicare fee-for-service enrollees found an average COVID-19 hospitalization cost of $21,752. A FAIR Health analysis of private claims data, including employer and private Medicare Advantage plans, found that COVID-19 hospitalization costs ranged from $17,094 for people over age 70 to $24,012 for people in their 50s. Similarly, our analysis of pre-pandemic private insurance claims for pneumonia hospitalizations with complications averaged $20,292 (though the cost for hospitalizations requiring a ventilator is much higher).
All told, the cost of COVID-19 care could cost payers $546.6 billion, according to estimates from America’s Health Insurance Plans.
In June and July, the U.S. health system spent $2.3 billion on unvaccinated individuals who were hospitalized because of COVID-19.
The real reason, however, to mandate vaccinations is actually a simple one. If we don’t get the virus under control, more people will die, and the virus could mutate enough to the point that the current vaccines are ineffective.
Those of us who are socially responsible and have taken steps to protect ourselves should not be held hostage by people who refuse vaccines because they are stupid.