The New York State Bar Association is urging the state to adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations once they become available: if 'voluntary measures fail to protect public health'  and the NY Bar has recommended rejecting exemptions for "religious, philosophical or personal reasons," as dictated by current laws in New York, according to the New York Law Journal. A legal expert with the NY Bar said, "It may become necessary to require that certain individuals or communities be vaccinated, such as healthcare workers and students, to protect the public's health."

The NY Bar added that "A vaccine must not only be safe and efficacious; it must be publicly perceived as safe and efficacious."

The New York State Bar Association is urging the state to adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations once they become available – if 'voluntary measures fail to protect public health' – and has recommended following 'current New York law' – including exemptions for "religious, philosophical or personal reasons," according to the New York Law Journal.

"The authority of the state to respond to a public health crisis is well-established in constitutional law," said Mary Beth Morrisey NY Bar association Health Law Section Task Force chair, in a Saturday statement.

"In balancing the protection of the public's health and civil liberties, the Public Health Law recognizes that a person's health can and does affect others," she continued. "It may become necessary to require that certain individuals or communities be vaccinated, such as healthcare workers and students, to protect the public's health."