Fortunately my grandparents have had both the first and second dose of the vaccine for COVID-19 but many of you, like me, will still be awaiting the first jab.

Certainly I will be first in line when the opportunity to be vaccinated comes up but there is an interesting legal question about whether it should be mandatory.

A comprehensive vaccination scheme would be the best way to be rid of this virus that has cost so many lives and ruined so many others but it seems to offend certain principles of liberty and autonomy over our bodies. The idea of people being forced to have the injection just doesn’t sit right and this appears to be enshrined in section 45E of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 which states that regulations “may not include provision requiring a person to undergo medical treatment”. Indeed even if that was found not to be comprehensive in itself it is hard to imagine a compulsory program not being found to breach the right to a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

So that is off the table and recent statements from the prime minister suggest that there is more of an attempt to encourage people to get the vaccine instead of there being any sort of mandate. Nevertheless it is also important to consider that there might be indirect ways in which people are effectively forced to get the vaccine.

For example an employer may wish to enquire whether their employees have had the vaccine or perhaps they might prefer one job applicant over another because one has chosen to have the vaccine while another refuses. While some employers might try this on it is hard to imagine a legal justification for requiring an employee to confirm that they have had the vaccine. For a start details about the medical health of an individual are considered to be ‘special category data’ under the GDPR and so even having that information would have to be justified by an employer. It is also possible that anti-discrimination law could come into play in scenarios where a person has good reasons for not getting the jab.

Even outside of the employment context there may be pressure on people to get the vaccine. Once pubs, shops and hotels are back open businesses may be wary of their duties under the Occupiers Liability Acts to ensure that visitors are reasonably safe as well as duties under health and safety legislation to staff. Again it is likely that anti-discrimination law would come into play here but a more appropriate response might be the carrying out of a risk assessment and so mask mandates could continue for some time to come.

What seems to be under greater threat is foreign holidays for anyone refusing the vaccine. It has already been reported that Australian airline Qantas will require passengers to have a ‘vaccine passport’ and so international travel may be limited for those who refuse the jab.

There will undoubtedly be some legal cases that arise out of the push to get everyone vaccinated but two factors will hopefully help to resolve this. Firstly vaccine uptake in the UK is already incredibly high and there is less vaccine-scepticism compared to other countries like the U.S. and France. Secondly in order to rid ourselves of the virus not everyone has to get a jab; as long as it is more than around 80% of the population then that should be sufficient.