The Washington Post reports that President Biden will announce this afternoon that he will require all government employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face possible termination. They will not be exempt from the requirement if they agree to frequent testing.

The administration also plans to mandate that all businesses with 100 or more employees require their employees to get vaccinated or take weekly COVID tests. Finally, it will use its leverage to mandate that all hospitals receiving Medicaid or Medicare funds vaccinate their workers.

I don’t believe the government has the right to force individuals to get vaccinated. However, employers have the right to require their employees to get vaccinated. Just as business owners have the right to say to customers, “No shirt, no shoes, no service,” so too they have the right to say, “no vax, no service.” The same principle applies to the terms of employment. This is an extension of property rights and the right to freedom of association. Therefore, I don’t have any problem, in principle, with the government requiring its own employees to get vaccinated.

I am not a legal or constitutional expert, but I suspect the federal government probably can use the carrot-and-stick approach with health care facilities that receive federal Medicaid and Medicare funds because it has leveraged federal funding to get state and local acquiescence in the past. But I can’t speak to the constitutionality of the federal government mandating that private businesses require their employees to get vaccinated or tested for COVID. I will defer to my colleagues who have expertise in that area.

Aside from legal concerns, I find it disheartening that the Biden administration is ignoring the role of natural immunity. Several studies, including this recent one from Israel, show people with prior COVID-19 infections acquire immunity that is equal to or better than those with vaccine-induced immunity. That’s why Israel, the U.K., and most European countries give entry passes to people who prove prior COVID-19 infection in lieu of vaccination. Many researchers believe people with natural immunity don’t need to get vaccinated or, at the most, just need one of the two mRNA vaccine doses. Alas, the presidential order doesn’t take any of this into account. One of the problems with one-size-fits-all top-down edicts is that they don’t do nuance very well.

The presidential order regarding government and private employees is also unlikely to make the vaccine-resistant change their minds. I worry it might have the opposite effect, causing them to dig in harder and seek relief in the burgeoning black market in CDC vaccination cards, many of them counterfeit. Businesses might wind up having a significant number of their workers lacking immunity and risking the spread of the virus to coworkers.

Vaccinations are the most effective harm reduction tool in the COVID-19 harm reduction toolbox. We should encourage and persuade people who do not already have acquired immunity to get vaccinated. But the president’s latest approach is too heavy-handed and might be counterproductive as well.