Vaccination yes or no: Who decides?
The so-called provax and antivax groups will soon have their case determined in the private sector or the world of business/commercial undertakings.
For instance, powerful insurance companies and corporations like Walmart and McDonald’s that hire and serve large numbers of Americans will settle the conflict between the two groups. How will the public react to a decision by insurance companies that we, the people, must “be vaccinated or pay higher premiums?”
What will employees in large corporations do when they are given a simple choice: “vax up and mask up or pay higher insurance premiums?” Or how will the unvaccinated react to the requirement that they must take bi-weekly COVID-19 tests to keep their jobs? Which of the 50 states will legislate against such work requirements? Can the federal government effectively step in and legislate against such provisions?
Because of emerging variants of COVID-19, each successor more transmissible than the previous one, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) seem to contradict themselves in their recommendations to the public. But it’s not that the medical community is lacking in knowledge on viruses or appropriate vaccines, but the viruses are new and their variants are more unpredictable by the day. This is why it seems like our medical experts are exhibiting a case of “two steps forward and one step backwards.” But that is often the case of scientific research during the process of discovery.
Let us not be discouraged. Even science has to “live and learn” like the rest of us.
As for politicians, they pretend that they are effective leaders but those of us who study them know better. Leadership in democracies is pluralistic; that is, it’s a combination of groups, mostly business ones, social movements, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), and active ordinary people who influence the decision making process. Sometimes one group wins while another loses. Then at other times, the group that loses wins the next time around. Politicians legitimize the final outcome, through policy adoption.
Look at the process and likely outcome of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. Business groups and a host of NGOs are taking the lead behind the scenes. Contrast this with the likely outcome of the proposed For the People Voting Rights Act, 2019: significant business groups are lukewarm about it, while a number of politicians fear their constituents will vote them out of office should they vote for the bill.
A majority of our politicians will wait for the signal from their campaign funders before they stand up and be counted on the voting rights bill currently in Congress. Likewise, I do expect that a majority of politicians in Congress and state legislatures will wait on the business community and other lobbyist groups to call for mandatory vaccination and masking of Americans. Mandatory vaccination will be masked behind a two-faced alternative: vaccinate or live with higher insurance premium costs, or even job loss risks.
For whatever it’s worth, just recently Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, and others have announced: No mask, no gas. What’s next? No vaccine, no gasoline? We’ll wait to see what our business leaders have in stowed for us. Starting September, 2021 you’ll need to show proof of vaccination if you are to enter certain restaurants in New York City. I expect other business entities and cities will follow suit.
Admittedly, I have certain fears about where our pluralist society is headed on this vaccination conflict. I’m concerned that where business, commerce and economic livelihood lead, the rest of us will have to follow. At the very least, however, I urge that science be given a seat at the table of decision making and that our politicians worry less about their reelection and more about the health and livelihood of the people who elected them to office. May the mantra of our politicians be: People first, selfish ambitions after.
Keith Simmonds is political science professor at Florida A&M University
