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I don’t believe in vaccine mandates. I don’t believe forcing someone against their will to vaccinate is something a democratic government should do.
However, if you are unvaccinated by choice, then you can live with the consequences.
The situation in 2022 is vastly different than the situation in 2021. Last year, you could not be faulted for being unvaxxed because the government failed to provide vaccines quickly and for all.
This year, if you want to get vaccinated, you will. Boosters are also being rolled out to everyone who wants it especially those in at-risk categories.
With the death toll increasing day by day, and with the statistics quite clear in favor of vaccination, the choice not to vaccinate should be viewed for what it is – stupidity.
Since the start of 2022, 58.2 per cent of people who died were unvaccinated. Only 2.4 per cent of people who died were vaccinated and received booster shots.
The case for forced vaccinations
What does this tell us? It tells us that vaccinations are effective but not 100 per cent effective. You can still die if you are vaccinated, doubly so for the elderly and people with underlying diseases.
The case for vaccine mandates are still the same, governments say they should be able to force people to vaccinate for them to hold certain jobs or use certain government services/facilities in the interest of protecting those that are immune compromised or in at risk categories.
Governments would argue that they are doing this to protect that 2.4 per cent of people who get boosters and will still face a life threatening disease should they contract Covid-19.
Thailand has so far not passed any vaccine mandate laws/regulations but the chorus of people advocating for such a move grows by the day.
Wrong move
I believe that this is the wrong move. A democratic and liberal government, and it is debatable whether we live under one right now, should not mandate or force people to receive something as personal as an intravenous injection.
It should provide access to vaccines for all but stop short of forced jabs. Doing so would make vaccinations a political issue and empower anti-vaxxers voices and amplify their gripes about illiberalism and a totalitarian state. This not only creates a larger echo chamber for that movement but might potentially draw more people into the anti-vaxxer camp.
If we are worried about that 2.4 per cent who are immuno-compromised there are other moves that can be taken by the state including research into post-infection treatments, better isolation facilities, and the continued acquisition of better vaccines.
Rather than a vaccine mandate, the right move would be to continue publishing statistics that show how ridiculous the anti-tax movement is.
Show them for what they really are, a anti-science, anti-community group of selfish nitwits.