This Viewpoint discusses how federal vaccine requirements have helped thwart vaccine-preventable ... more This Viewpoint discusses how federal vaccine requirements have helped thwart vaccine-preventable diseases as well as how growing public resistance to vaccines and judicial and legislative limits to vaccination mandates may change that.
This article argues that the Supreme Court should not require a religious exemption from vaccine ... more This article argues that the Supreme Court should not require a religious exemption from vaccine mandates. For children, who cannot yet make autonomous religious decision, religious exemptions would allow parents to make a choice that puts the child at risk and makes the shared environment of the school unsafe — risking other people’s children. For adults, there are still good reasons not to require a religious exemption, since vaccines mandates are adopted for public health reasons, not to target religion, are an area where free riding is a real risk, no religion actually prohibits vaccinating under a mandate, and policing religious exemptions is very difficult.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 100 cases of m... more Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 100 cases of measles, spanning 10 states, had been reported in the United States since the beginning of the year. This news came on the heels of the World Health Organization's estimate of over 200,000 cases of measles in 2018. These numbers signal the reemergence of a preventable, deadly disease, attributed in significant part to vaccine hesitancy. Communities and nations must seriously consider leveraging the law to protect against the spread of this highly contagious disease.
This Viewpoint discusses how federal vaccine requirements have helped thwart vaccine-preventable ... more This Viewpoint discusses how federal vaccine requirements have helped thwart vaccine-preventable diseases as well as how growing public resistance to vaccines and judicial and legislative limits to vaccination mandates may change that.
This article argues that the Supreme Court should not require a religious exemption from vaccine ... more This article argues that the Supreme Court should not require a religious exemption from vaccine mandates. For children, who cannot yet make autonomous religious decision, religious exemptions would allow parents to make a choice that puts the child at risk and makes the shared environment of the school unsafe — risking other people’s children. For adults, there are still good reasons not to require a religious exemption, since vaccines mandates are adopted for public health reasons, not to target religion, are an area where free riding is a real risk, no religion actually prohibits vaccinating under a mandate, and policing religious exemptions is very difficult.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 100 cases of m... more Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 100 cases of measles, spanning 10 states, had been reported in the United States since the beginning of the year. This news came on the heels of the World Health Organization's estimate of over 200,000 cases of measles in 2018. These numbers signal the reemergence of a preventable, deadly disease, attributed in significant part to vaccine hesitancy. Communities and nations must seriously consider leveraging the law to protect against the spread of this highly contagious disease.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States died from COVID-19, and millions were impact... more Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States died from COVID-19, and millions were impacted by it-and vaccines are an important part of the way out.3 In late 2020 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to two COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.4 In February 2021 the FDA issued an EUA for a third COVID-19 vaccine by Johnson and Johnson (Janssen).5 By June 2021, over one hundred and sixty million people in the United States had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.6 Opponents have used the fact that the vaccines were each approved for use under an EUA and that they have not yet been fully licensed argue against mandating their use, arguing that the lack of full approvals means the vaccines are "experimental." This is inaccurate and harmful, since the vaccines have been given to over one hundred million people in the United States alone.
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Papers by Dorit Reiss