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There actually are laws requiring vaccinations
This is in response to an entry in Talk of the County on Dec. 17, 2021, in which someone claimed, “There is no law saying I have to take a vaccine.”
Unfortunately, the writer or speaker is absolutely incorrect. In the state of Illinois, there are many, many statutes dealing with vaccinations being required for purposes. Some require students entering sixth and 12th grade to get a meningitis vaccine. Childcare facility employees must be vaccinated. Children under the age of 2 enrolled in a licensed child care facility must be vaccinated.
Every child seeking entry into a public school must show proof of vaccination or be excluded from public school until proof is shown. No one may attend a postsecondary education institution without showing proof of certain vaccines. Children under the age of 5 living in households receiving assistance pursuant to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families must be vaccinated. Persons residing in a secure residential youth care facility must be vaccinated.
There are other statutes dealing with college student vaccinations, medical care providers being vaccinated and many more.
In a United States Supreme Court opinion from 1905, entitled Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the Court had to consider a municipal ordinance requiring a vaccination of residents against smallpox. Whoever over the age of 21 failed to get vaccinated, unless under guardianship, forfeited $5. In today’s money, that is almost $140.
The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the statute and said, “Liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States does not import an absolute right in each person, to be at all times, and in all circumstances wholly freed from restraint, nor is there an element in such liberty that one person, or a minority of persons residing in any community and enjoying the benefits of its local government, should have power to dominate the majority when supported in the action by the authority of the State. It is within the police power of the State to enact a compulsory vaccination law.”
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There are many restraints on liberty contained in laws that few people question. Wearing seat belts, driving on the right side of the road and within speed limits, and obeying all traffic devices, are laws that infringe on the liberty of every single individual. However, the common good benefits as a result. Similarly, as the United States Supreme Court has held, the common good permits the government to enact vaccination requirements.
Thus, there is law that permits it.
Gary L. Schlesinger, Libertyville