Yesterday Joe Biden announced that federal employees need to be vaccinated or “face new testing, masking, and distancing rules.” Several companies are also insisting that their employees get vaccinated, including Google, Facebook, Netflix, Morgan Stanley, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Washington Post, Ascension Health, Lyft, Shake Shack, Uber and Twitter.
Science tells us that the COVID-19 vaccine could save your life and the lives of others. Biden took a necessary first step yesterday. But businesses and schools can have a greater impact. Most people will get vaccinated if their jobs depend on it. Colleges and universities that have not required vaccinations for students this Fall are missing an opportunity to serve the public good. By letting people come to work and school unvaccinated, we empower the anti-vaxxers and make it harder for the country to get back to normal.
It is time to push the anti-vaxxers back to the fringe where they belong. Those who will not get the vaccine should be marginalized in the same way that we marginalize, for example, those who drive a car without a license, seat belt, or insurance.
