Be it resolved the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory for all health-care workers

Debate

Posted: Dec 15, 2021

Be it resolved the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory for all health-care workers

Doctors Amit Arya, Allison McGeer, Kali Barrett, and Stefan Baral face off over whether COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory in a civil but sharply argued debate that covers some of the most contentious topics in health care, including systemic inequities, vaccine hesitancy, the state of long-term care, and more.

Yes

Timeline

Dec 15, 2021

by Amit Arya

Amit Arya

Vaccinations should be mandatory for all health-care workers because they will keep vulnerable patients safe. We know this from our experience successfully mandating vaccination among staff in long-term care. Furthermore, vaccine mandates should not be blamed for staff shortages in the health-care system.

Dec 15, 2021

by Allison McGeer

Allison McGeer

Vaccine mandates will lead good health-care workers to be fired, thereby exacerbating systemic inequities – and all for a rationale that appeals to patient safety but which does not always stand up to scrutiny. We also can't allow vaccine mandates to send the message that we no longer need to use multiple complementary infection-control measures.

Dec 15, 2021

by Kali Barrett

Kali Barrett

Vaccines must be mandatory in all health-care settings in order to protect patients, protect health-care workers and prevent future health-care worker shortages. Furthermore, hospitals are temples of science, and we need to make decisions based on science – such as mandating vaccination.

Dec 15, 2021

by Stefan Baral

Stefan Baral

Mandating COVID-19 vaccines amounts to a passive and insensitive infection-control measure that does not address the real drivers of COVID-19 infection. Moreover, it deviates from the core principles of public health, eroding trust between public health and those it serves.