Unmute
Remaining Ad Time
Ad – 00:00
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – As COVID cases surge, the urge for vaccination nationwide continues.
Dr. Thomas Harter, Director of Bioethics and Humanities at Gundersen Health System discusses the ethics behind receiving the vaccine and requiring vaccinations for employers and in medical facilities.
Dr. Harter explained that the reason we have the vaccinations is to prevent the spreading of the virus and people getting sick so having vaccinations is a way to help the entire population of people keep from getting sick.
“It’s true that individuals have a right to choose for themselves whether they get a vaccination or not and they should have a right to make that choice for themselves. But, there is a counterargument here and that is, ‘you have that right to not get vaccinated but you also don’t have the right to put other people at risk,” said Dr. Harter.
He used the analogy of wearing seatbelts in cars to make the point that while some may not like wearing seatbelts, it is required to keep people safe. Just like while some may not like receiving a vaccination, it is done to keep people safe. Dr. Harter said the requirement of the seatbelt is an infringement on people’s right to choose, but we consider it an acceptable infringement because it keeps people safe. He said it is the same thing with vaccination and employers.
When it comes to the requirement of vaccination in businesses and healthcare, Dr. Harter said there are many contours that you have to think through. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that there is no federal law that prevents an employer from requiring vaccination as long as they are complying with other acts.
“From a legal perspective, there’s going to be some question about that. People are going to say, ‘I have a religious objection, I have a philosophical objection, I have a medical objection. You can’t tell those individuals right now, ‘you have to get vaccinated or you lose your job,’ but you can say, ‘you have to be vaccinated to do your job,'” said Dr. Harter.
MORE: Employer vaccine mandates are legal, says lawyer
He explained that there are all kinds of requirements that are put in place for people to work such as drug testing. While many don’t want to do the testing, they still have to for the job.
“There are certain things of your job that you don’t get to do unless you meet the requirements of that. We have those requirements in place for reasons and that’s the important thing we need to get communicating to people is trying to understand why there is this requirement, why are employers wanting to have these requirements in place. There are a lot of different answers and reasons for that,” said Dr. Harter.
The reasons for not wanting to get vaccinated like it being experimental or not having enough information, he said are fading away.
“So what are you left with? ‘Well, I just don’t want to get vaccinated.’ Okay. There’s a lot of things I don’t like to do either but I still have to do as part of my work,” said Dr. Harter.
He said there are some people who can be educated and persuaded to get vaccinated but others are anti-vaccination and it doesn’t matter whether they are educated about the vaccines or not. Dr. Harter said for some, education and having data is really important and that is what needs to be given to unvaccinated individuals.
He said to mandate something when there is a low risk, is difficult, but as case numbers rise, he said the justification behind not getting vaccinated is decreasing.
The post Ethics of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination requirements in the workplace appeared first on WXOW.