Cohousing-L Mailing List: Vaccinations and duty to protect the immune compromised

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

I received a question this week about a community having a policy on 
vaccinations. And whether the community have a duty to protect 
immune-compromised people, including the elderly, and those with severe food 
allergies. 

> Some people believe it's a violation of privacy to ask people about their, or 
> their childrens', vaccination status. When does the community have a legal 
> liability and will this liability be worse if the community has a policy they 
> say they enforce but don’t. Is it our duty to protect the immune-compromised 
> members. Should those more vulnerable because of their own health conditions 
> take responsibility for protecting themselves or initiating requests for 
> community support.  

My response was mostly logical and not based on any personal experience or 
legal knowledge. I would like to do a blog post on this but would like more 
information from others who have confronted this in their communities.

The problem is that vaccinations are a public health issue that can affect all 
children and adults. Adults can be seriously ill. Vaccinations do not always 
work. The  immune compromised are very vulnerable, both in the increased 
likelihood of getting the disease and in coping with the illness itself.

“Duty” may be taking it too far because you have no legal footing. You might 
consult a lawyer on this. (The community should have one on retainer.)

Once you have lived together and formed a bond, these issues tend to go away. 
People normally act in the best interests of others, and you can always bring 
out liability concerns. Those who are not convinced by a social argument will 
often be convinced by the potential lawsuit. But I don’t think there is any 
legal protection against transmitted illnesses — even HIV — the same way there 
is protection against racial discrimination. You might sue on the basis of one 
thing or the other but this is not an attractive community option.

When my community had two people receiving chemo therapy and one pregnant, I 
was able to convince members to take more actions to ensure that all dishes 
were sanitized because one of our members was traveling regularly to the far 
east when bird flu was rampant there. Even though the odds were low that she 
would bring it home, it would have been devastating to the community of she did.

The homeowners’ association, however, has the right to regulate behavior on 
common property.

A community values statement that says you respect the right to privacy so long 
as it doesn’t infringe on the safety, values, or convenience of other members 
of the community. That will alert those who want to move in that non-vacination 
is viewed as a danger to the community when the children go outside. The 
children will be contagious before they show symptoms. And I think some can be 
contagious without ever getting sick themselves.

(During the seasonal polio epidemics in the 1950s, children were kept inside 
and public pools and other public facilities closed. No birthday parties or 
play dates.)

You might also research how likely this is to be a problem. So many children 
are vaccinated that only the unvaccinated would be at risk. In my generation 
60+ most had the diseases in childhood and are immune. The generation between 
having the disease and universal vaccinations might be at more risk. l don’t 
know if vaccines exist for adults.

Sometimes a factual consideration of the odds calms the fears, or convinces 
others of a need for a policy.

If this is a hypothetical, I advise you not to spend time on it beyond 
informing everyone that some members have concerns. There are so many 
hypothetical situations that you could be discussing them to no conclusion 
forever. Stick with real problems — though if you have an immune compromised 
person this may be real, not hypothetical.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org