A Stuff article.
The introduction of Covid-19 vaccination mandates for workers has stimulated international discussion on whether we should mandate vaccines to protect consumers against other viruses, such as Hepatitis A (HAV).
This significant threat to human health transmits via the faecal-oral route – when an infected person does not wash their hands after going to the toilet. Viruses on their hands can land on food they are handling, and stay intact long enough to infect anyone eating it. The person transmitting the virus may not yet know they are infected because the incubation period for HAV is up to 50 days.