NEW YORK (WBEN) - A piece of legislation that was recently introduced in the New York State Assembly made a lot of waves on social media Tuesday, as the bill would provide a mechanism to mandate able-bodied adults to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The bill was proposed by Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal out of New York's 67th District, and the legislation reads, "If public health officials determine that residents of the state are not developing sufficient immunity from COVID-19, the department shall mandate vaccination for all individuals or groups of individuals who, as shown by clinical data, are proven to be safe to receive such vaccine."
However, Democrat State Assemblyman Pat Burke provided clarity, saying he doesn't believe this bill has any sort of legs or potential of being passed.
"I saw it reported somewhere that the New York State Assembly is looking to mandate the COVID vaccine, and I was like, 'wow, that is jumping to major conclusions,'" said Burke. "One person out of a 150-member body thinks that it might be a good idea, and then all of the sudden the New York State Assembly is working on this mandatory vaccine, and that's just not the case.
I don't think it's a good idea," he continued. "I think it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to mandate something like this - there's no way to enforce it."
State Senator Pat Gallivan was in disbelief that a bill like this was even proposed.
"I shudder when somebody suggests that," said Gallivan. "To think that we live in America and government would make it mandatory to inject something into your body, and then try to make an argument that it's okay for government to be doing that."
But what about mandating a COVID vaccination in order to do certain things, such as attend public school. Both Gallivan and Burke don't believe that would be effective health policy in this case.
"I'm not okay with government mandating that something is injected into the body of one of its citizens," Gallivan continued. "There's no question a vaccine is needed; there's no question that we are looking towards light at the end of the tunnel when the vaccine is made available to everybody, and certainly, I would encourage people to take the vaccine."
"I don't think the school vaccine would be the most effective use because even in K-8 schools, we're seeing the virus contained in those situations - I don't think that would be something that would be pushed right now because the data doesn't support it," added Burke. "All of the other ideas ( about a mandate) probably just wouldn't be that effective. I think the most effective strategy right now is to make sure that we have enough of the vaccine, make sure that it's gone through every safety protocol, and then make it widely available."
