Why mandatory vaccination is nothing new

Thanks for sharing

One thing that is new is mandating vaccines - that reduce but do not prevent infection OR spread - for a disease that is not very deadly. Yes, I know, millions have died worldwide and over 700,000 here at home. I am not trying to make light of that, not trying to minimize it, not trying to say that we should rejoice that *only* 700,000+ Americans have died.

But compared to other pandemics which have pushed vaccine mandates in a hurry (polio, smallpox) or other pandemics which had no vaccine at all (plague, earlier outbreaks of smallpox) the death rate for COVID is remarkably low. And also compared to other vaccines, the efficacy of this one is also remarkably low. It does a great job at preventing death. It does a very good job at preventing hospitalization. It only does a *meh* job at preventing infection or spread.

A large part of the rationale of vaccine mandates is that it is required to not only protect the individual, but to protect everyone else FROM that individual. If you don't want to get vaxxed and you kill yourself, whatever - your choice to die, I guess. But if you don't want to get vaxxed and you infect someone else, well, we can't allow that: MANDATE. But with this disease and these vaccinations, even if you ARE vaxxed, you can still infect others - yes at a lower rate of occurrence, but that rate is not so low that it is a "miracle" or "genuine anomlay." So if the vaccines only slow the spread, they don't stop it, the rationale for authoritarian mandates erodes.



Now, all of that being said, GO GET VACCINATED. Not because the government told you to, but because it is the smart thing to do for your own health. It is the smart thing to do for your family's health. And it is the neighbourly thing to do for everyone you come in contact with. As I said above, it *may not* prevent infection, hospitalization, OR spread. But it will make ALL OF those things less likely. And for a free jab with minimal life implications (especially when compared to the life implications of getting COVID), it is well worth it to reduce risk.

I don't think it aught to be 'mandatory, but it seems to be for a lot of people... I hate seeing what is happening, and wish people would comply rather than give up their lively hood, but it's their choice... thanks for all the facts...