“Almost all governments … have so far resisted making Covid vaccination mandatory for their citizens,” CNBC says, but, “The divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated … is likely to become even deeper, with officials in the U.S. and Europe planning, or introducing, an increasing number of restrictions on people who haven’t gotten a Covid shot.” (Read story here.)
Which means, “Aspects of daily life are increasingly complicated for anyone who is not vaccinated against Covid.” They don’t like it; “there is a rising sense of anger and injustice among those who reject the vaccine.”
Injustice. How about that. What about justice for the people they infect?
It seems to me we’ve struck a more-than-reasonable compromise with these whiners. They don’t have to get vaccinated; no one is forcing them. They’re allowed to fill up hospitals and ICUs, depriving more deserving patients of beds, doctors, and nurses in short supply. Society even pays their massive medical bills.
They can whine all they like. But the rest of us have a right to protect ourselves from these germ buses. Therefore, despite their noisy protests, “the freedom to travel, work, socialize and engage in leisure activities is increasingly determined by our Covid vaccination status.” For example,
“Covid vaccinations are now mandatory for New York City’s municipal workers, and from mid-September proof of inoculation will be required from employees and customers of indoor eateries, gyms and entertainment centers. Meanwhile, workers in health care facilities in California will be required to provide proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated against Covid from October. On Monday, the Pentagon said it plans to make Covid vaccination mandatory for military service members no later than mid-September.”
Don’t like it? Tough.
Part of the problem is, “Vaccine skepticism and outright vaccination sentiment have become rife since the start of the pandemic,, coinciding with disinformation and misinformation on social media that can ultimately endanger lives.”
This is a free country. People can believe what they like. But when it affects the rest of us, we don’t have to base public health policy on their fantasies or false believes. The vaccines have been safety-tested, peer-reviewed, and shown to work. But no vaccine is 100% effective, and the science is showing that vaccinated people can not only get infected, but also pass the infection to others. That being so, we don’t have to let these people expose us.
Here in the U.S., there’s a great deal of overlap between anti-vaxxers / anti-maskers and the Trumper mobs who insist the election was stolen by voter fraud, despite a total lack of evidence to support such claims. They can believe what they want, and whine all they like, but Trump lost and he’s not president anymore. The rest of us have rights, too.
And that’s the point. These folks don’t respect our rights. They don’t acknowledge we have rights. We’re running out of patience with that. They don’t have to get vaccinated, and they can keep flying their Trump flags. (We call them “freak flags.”) But it’s time to make them stop threatening public officials, disrupting school board meetings, parading guns in public buildings, and trying to overthrow our elected government. We don’t have to put up with that, and now we’re saying we won’t.
Public health measures should serve a purpose, be efficacious, and fair to all. And if they meet those tests, they should be enforced.
When people who know what they’re talking about conclude school kids should wear masks in classrooms, and school boards and administrators decide they will, and the school rules require them, then that’s that. Same with requiring vaccinations and/or masks of healthcare workers, in workplaces, gyms and stores, etc. Don’t like it? Too bad. Go to court, or go to hell.
And if you’re not vaccinated and won’t wear a mask, don’t expect me to have anything to do with you. I don’t want to be within 100 feet of you. That isn’t ostracism or discrimination, I’m only protecting myself from idiots who would do me harm.
Related story: Hear what movie star and former GOP California governor has to say about it here.
Blame the right wing for politicizing what is a public health concern by turning it into a political issue.
That’s the heart of the matter. This wouldn’t be happening without rightwing propaganda and Republican politicians exploiting it for political gain.
Nope you folks are just wrong. You need to go swim in the East River with raw sewage. That will strengthen your immune system. You should go out of your way to be exposed. Dance naked through the Covid ward. If you have built up your system you won’t get more than a cold. Germs are not going away and germs do not care about your rights. Build up your immunity so you can survive a real supergerm and enjoy the rewards afterward. A plan approved by the Chinese Communist Party that does not give two shakes about anyone’s rights just the power for the CCP to run things for everyone. They probably thing it hilarious they got western governments to adopt their ineffective and totally dictatorial solutions for Corvid.
No reader of this blog will be impressed by your immunology theories. Swim in sewage? When you pitch ideas like that, do you think anyone will listen?
If you’ve been vaccinated against polio and smallpox, you’re a hypocrite. If you haven’t, you’re an idiot. The Covid-19 vaccines aren’t a communist plot. They were developed in America and they’re saving lives.
With nearly 620,000 Americans already dead from this virus, how well is natural immunity working? How many lives should we sacrifice to prove the crackpots wrong?
Keeping anti-vaxxers from exposing others to sickness and death isn’t infringing on their rights.
This is the dumbest comment you’ve ever submitted. I’d be doing you a favor by deleting it, but I owe you no favors. If you want to troll a life-and-death issue, I’ll let your own words speak for you.