It’s time for a vaccine mandate, North Carolina

North Carolina’s latest COVID-19 numbers are a grim reminder that the pandemic is far from over. Hospitals are strained with COVID-19 patients, more than 90% of them unvaccinated. Cases among children, many of whom are not yet eligible for the vaccine, are climbing. And on Thursday, the state surpassed 15,000 coronavirus deaths, a devastating milestone.

Gov. Roy Cooper and other state officials have long maintained that vaccines are our best way out of this pandemic. But to help us get there, North Carolina needs to require that all public employees be vaccinated or get tested weekly — something the state has been reluctant to do thus far.

Despite the state’s efforts to strongly encourage the shot, vaccination rates in North Carolina remain fairly stagnant. Only 59% of North Carolinians age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

“How many more people have to get sick and die because people don’t get this miraculous, God-given, effective and extraordinarily safe vaccine?” Cooper asked at a news conference Wednesday. Cooper told reporters that “all options are on the table” regarding additional statewide restrictions.

It might be time to revisit those options. Now that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has received full FDA approval, the case against vaccine mandates has weakened. North Carolina certainly wouldn’t be the first state to issue a vaccine mandate for state employees — other states, including Virginia, have already done so.

To his credit, Cooper has already taken some prudent steps toward requiring vaccines. Currently, state workers at agencies that are part of the Governor’s Office or headed by members of the Governor’s Cabinet are required to be vaccinated or tested weekly. That covers about 50,000 employees. Still, many are left out, such as those who work for the Department of Labor, Department of Public Instruction and the state’s university and community college systems.

A handful of local governments and school districts already require proof of vaccination for their employees. But in North Carolina’s largest cities, there is no such requirement. Such a mandate would apply to public-facing positions such as police officers and firefighters, whose vaccination rates trail other city employees in major cities like Charlotte. Just 49% of Charlotte Fire Department employees are vaccinated, according to a recent workforce survey.

The UNC System has also been prudent in requiring students and employees to attest to being vaccinated or get tested regularly, but we’d like to see that requirement made stronger. While some universities are posting high student vaccination rates — 92% at UNC-Chapel Hill — others are markedly lower. At Appalachian State University, for example, just 52% of students are vaccinated, the school’s dashboard says.

Of course, any vaccine mandate that includes a weekly testing option involves some logistical hurdles. Local governments and employers will have to address the thorny issue of carrying out the testing requirement without passing along costs to those who are already vaccinated. It’s not clear how the tests would be paid for, or how the weekly testing requirement would be monitored and enforced. Those questions need to be answered before any mandate can be introduced.

Cooper has been treading carefully in recent months, delegating many public health decisions to local governments to avoid any significant legal or political backlash from Republicans, who were incensed by many of the restrictions he implemented last year. We understand his hesitation, but with FDA approval and President Biden’s new vaccine mandates, the governor now has stronger footing to issue a vaccine mandate of his own.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t forced inoculation. Rather, it makes vaccination or testing a condition of employment. In order to have a taxpayer-funded job, public employees should be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.

Vaccines only work if people are willing to get them, and the state’s pleas and gentle nudges don’t seem to be doing the trick anymore. Cooper should take the step to require vaccines for all state employees who don’t have a medical or religious exemption, and local governments should follow suit. We can’t afford to wait much longer.

This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 12:07 PM.