The Wall Street Journal | April 10, 2019
Mandatory vaccination orders, though rare in modern times except for school immunizations, are a lawful tool to combat outbreaks, said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “The city has the power and duty to safeguard the health of its population, particularly to protect vulnerable children from dangerous infectious diseases,” he said.
But limiting it to certain ZIP Codes opens the city to criticism, and potential legal challenges it is targeting specific religious groups, he said.
“Why create a special order that singles out certain religious communities, when it would be fairer and more effective to require it of all residents?” he said.