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Rob Ellis

English Composition II

24 October 2021

Literature Review

One of the most influential things in many people’s lives over the last two years has been

the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic first started it drastically affected and

changed every person’s normal life. The ability to go back to some normalcy has been dependent

on the COVID-19 outbreak to die down. A lot of controversies have sparked over the last 6-8

months regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and the requirement of these vaccinations to return to

normal life. COVID-19 vaccinations can help save lives by preventing people from being

infected and have proved to be very effective across many countries but I do not believe they

should be mandatory in the United States because of our constitutional rights and freedoms.

The corona virus outbreak is still under question about the origins and first infections.

Many have speculated that the virus was created in a lab in China while some experts say it even

originated in bats. Although the origin of this infectious virus is uncertain, something that is

certain is the destruction and chaos this virus has caused. Over 45 million infections and 745,000

deaths have been reported over the last year and a half since the outbreak started. The shutdown

that went into effect in March of 2020 caused many small businesses across the country to

collapse and hurt the economy as no one was allowed to do anything for a long period of time.

The first COVID-19 vaccine was given in December of 2020. This was nine just months

after the COVID outbreak first began and has led some people to be skeptical of how quick the

vaccine was produced. Dr. Steven Patton of Norton Community Medical Associates said,“I think

that’s a lot of the hesitance. A lot of people are talking about that” (Norton Healthcare 1). Patton
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talked more about this while speaking about the hestiance of people not wanting to get

vaccinated. Most vaccines are very long and complex processes that can take decades to make

and eventually get FDA approved. This is why many Americans are hesitant to get the shot with

how quickly this COVID vaccine was made. Although these concerns are valid, many forget to

take into consideration that most vaccines don’t have the entire world depending on them.

Currently, there are three vaccines you get. The Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson &

Johnson’s shots are all available. Only the Pfizer shot is FDA approved and it is also the only

shot that is available to those under the age of eighteen. Both the Moderna and Pfizer shots

require two shots while the Johnson & Johnson’s shot requires just one shot. The CDC doesn’t

recommend a certain shot over another though, “At this time, CDC does not have a

recommendation for immunocompromised people to receive both a booster shot and an

additional dose” (CDC 1).

Talks about a possible shot began circulating rather quickly after the COVID shutdown

occurred. The entire world waited as doctors and scientists across the world worked to try and

develop a vaccine that would hopefully put an end to the pandemic. The first vaccine to get FDA

approval was the Pfizer vaccine. This wasn’t actually FDA approved until August of 2021 but

had been available for people over the age of sixteen since December. FDA approval means a

drug has been clinically tested and that the benefits of receiving the drug or in this case the

vaccine outweigh the risks of taking it. With this FDA approval, it should set aside a lot of

skeptiks that don’t believe the vaccine is safe.

The United States was founded on the beliefs of freedom and many Americans feel that

vaccine mandates infringe on their rights as an individual. In September, President Biden

announced there would be new vaccine mandates that require most federal employees to get
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vaccinated. Some Amercians were very against this as they felt it infringed on their

constitutional rights as Americans to have to be forced to get a shot to be able to work. The

country has been very divided on this topic as citizers as well as lawyers have yet to come to a

consensus on whether or not being forced to get a vaccine like this is constitutionally sound.

Therese Shanks is a lawyer from the state of Nevada and wrote an article for the Nevada

Independent addressing these concerns of unconstitutionality at the federal level. In the article,

Shanks went on to say that it is constitutional for states to mandate vaccines but it is very unclear

whether the President is allowed to make decisions like this. The last time a federal agency

attempted to have everyone get a vaccine was the smallpox vaccine back in 1905. Obviously a

lot has changed since then and a large supreme court case is likely on the way as many

American’s jobs and lives depend on a ruling like this.

Others have worried about COVID-19 vaccines affecting the fertility of women.

According to the CDC, the is just not true. “The truth is that the COVID-19 vaccine encourages

the body to create copies of the spike protein found on the coronavirus’s surface. This “teaches”

the body’s immune system to fight the virus that has that specific spike protein on it” (CDC 1).

This has proven just to be a myth that has been created in the fear that the vaccines have been

made ineffectively. This is not true as researchers have done tests on women and their fertility

rates have not shown any signs that the vaccine has affected them at all.

Other countries across the world like New Zealand have implemented policies regarding

COVID vaccination statutes. One of these policies is that if you are not vaccinated you cannot

work as a doctor or teacher. “Fiji says all of its public and private sector workers are liable to

lose their jobs if they fail to get fully inoculated by November” (Rasheed 1). Fiji’s mandate to

have all working people vaccinated has had a great effect on the country. The COVID rates have
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drastically declined since September and the country has seen great results since implementing

this mandate.

While a majority of Americans are vaccinated in just a short amount of time, there are

still a wide amount of people who remain unvaccinated. Northeastern University did a huge

study of people who are unvaccinated and questioned why they decided not to get the vaccine.

“There were also worries about how vaccines would impact existing health conditions such as

allergies. Some respondents felt that the vaccines had not been tested enough to guarantee that

problems won’t pop up years from now” (Ramjug 1). Some feel as if this vaccine that was made

in such a short amount of time was rushed and wasn’t made as thoroughly as it could have been.

They have a feeling that this vaccine will harm them and they aren’t willing to take any risks

with it.

A study done by a group of doctors in India found that India has a high “prevalence” for

COPD which gives them a high risk of having worse symptoms if they get COVID. This study

goes on to say how important it is for people in India to get vaccinated so they don’t get COVID

because of the amount of evidence that has been found showing that they have a much higher

chance of getting more sick from COVID than the average American. Although Americans may

face similar issues it is worrisome knowing that if you are not vaccinated you can possibly get

someone else sick who may have risk factors like this.

Some citizens still feel that the vacannations are not safe even with the extensive research

surrounding all of the vaccines. FDA approval requires extensive testing and research and lots of

time has gone into this government approval. Those saying this vaccine was rushed may be

warranted because of the very quick time table that the shots were produced on but the urgency

was needed because of everything going on across the world. If this was just a normal virus that
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wasn’t affecting as many people and on the scale that it is, the vaccine wouldn’t have been

pushed as quickly as it was.

With the current political climate, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned political as your

vaccine status has turned into a political stance in some people’s eyes. Something that isn’t

political is the amount of damage that this disease has caused across the world. There have been

countless deaths across the globe and many countries may never fully recover from a pandemic

this wide spread. The financial impact alone that COVID caused during the lockdown will be felt

for a while across the world. The amount of cases and deaths which continue to rise are slowly

declining as more people get vaccinated.

The COVID-19 vaccine has been proved to be very effective across the United States.

According to the FDA, the positives outweigh the risks of the shot and it is our best option right

now to return to some normalcy if everyone gets the vaccine. The controversy surrounding

vaccine mandates is warranted. The overall fear of COVID-19 has brought up a lot of questions.

As the numbers of deaths rise should certain freedoms be taken away for the greater good of our

country? This is the question many people are asking themselves as they want to see the COVID

numbers and deaths go down. The amount of control the government has over us is a scary

thought that questions the very beliefs our country was founded on and should be taken very

seriously.

In conclusion, the COVID-19 outbreak has become a chaotic storm that has taken many

lives and has had long lasting effects on many countries around the world. Although the United

States is starting to recover from this outbreak, Americans need to keep getting vaccinated for

the pandemic to end and for society to go back to normal. Vaccines have proven to be a great
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way to prevent COVID but should not be mandated or forced upon citizens as it goes against our

fundamental values as citizens of the United States.

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Works Cited

“Covid-19 Vaccines at Va.” Veterans Affairs, https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/.

“Covid-19 Vaccine Information for Patients.” Patient Care at NYU Langone Health,

https://nyulangone.org/locations/covid-19-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine-information-for-pati

ents.

“Different Covid-19 Vaccines.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention,

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html.

Fact Sheet: Covid-19 Vaccine. Ohio Department of Health, 2020.

“Key Things to Know about Covid-19 Vaccines.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html?s_cid=1049

3%3Acovid+vaccine%3Asem.ga%3Ap%3ARG%3AGM%3Agen%3APTN%3AFY21.

Neeraj Gupta, Raja Dhar. “Impact of Covid-19 on (Non-Covid) Chronic Respiratory Disease

Outcome Survey in India (CCROS Study).” PubFacts, Lung India, 18 Oct. 2021,

https://www.pubfacts.com/detail/34472524/Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Non-COVID-chron

ic-respiratory-disease-outcome-survey-in-India-CCROS-study.
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Ramjug, Peter, and Peter Ramjug. “Why Aren't the Unvaccinated Getting Their Shots?” News @

Northeastern, 23 Sept. 2021,

https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/09/16/why-are-people-not-getting-vaccinated/.

Rasheed, Zaheena. “Should Covid-19 Vaccines Be Mandatory?” Coronavirus Pandemic News |

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 19 Oct. 2021,

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/18/should-covid-19-vaccines-be-mandatory.

Shanks, Therese. “Are Vaccine Mandates Constitutional?” The Nevada Independent, The

Nevada Independent, 21 Sept. 2021,

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/are-vaccine-mandates-constitutional.

Zimmer, Carl, et al. “Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker.” The New York Times, The New York Times,

10 June 2020,

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html.