Although I am reluctant to weigh in on this thread, here are a few things to consider that may be relevant to the discussion.
1. In the phraseology "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," life comes before liberty. That seems relevant in a context where 600,000+ people are dead and others insist on their "liberty" to be unvaccinated.
2. Liberty is not an unbounded proposition. In the non-governmental context, your liberty to do or say a thing is matched equally by someone else's liberty to respond. You have the liberty to say things that others may find offensive. Others have the liberty to boycott you either individually or as a business. You have the liberty to walk around without a shirt or shoes; others have the liberty to deny you entry if you are not wearing a shirt or shoes. You have the liberty to decline vaccination; an employer or business has the liberty to tell you to find another job or to dine or shop elsewhere. Liberty is a two-way street.
3. In the governmental context, the state has the right to create rules for public safety, health, and economic protection. This is why there are seat-belt laws, no smoking signs, mandatory auto insurance, mandatory vaccination for school attendance and travel to certain countries, etc. Of course in this country we prefer that the government have as light a footprint as possible because of the tension between personal liberty and the protection of the community.
4. As a matter of basic science, unvaccinated people pose a risk not only to other unvaccinated people, but also to vaccinated people in both the short and long term. The risk to other unvaccinated people - some of whom are unable to be vaccinated for one reason or another - goes without saying. The short-term risk to vaccinated people is that vaccination is not complete protection against infection. It is largely protective against infection, and it reduces the severity of illness, but there is still some risk. More importantly, the long-term risk to vaccinated people is that each time a virus replicates, there is a chance of mutation. As time goes on, mutation becomes inevitable. (This of course is how we got the Delta variant). Viruses do not mutate to become less effective, they mutate to become more effective. So the longer the virus circulates as a result of the large number of unvaccinated people, the greater the odds are that it will mutate into a form against which vaccination will be less effective.
Certainly everyone is free to do what they want. However, someone who chooses not to be vaccinated because they view that as an exercise of their individual liberty should not complain if they are denied entry by others who consider protecting themselves and contributing to the common good to be an exercise of their own individual liberty.
1. In the phraseology "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," life comes before liberty. That seems relevant in a context where 600,000+ people are dead and others insist on their "liberty" to be unvaccinated.
2. Liberty is not an unbounded proposition. In the non-governmental context, your liberty to do or say a thing is matched equally by someone else's liberty to respond. You have the liberty to say things that others may find offensive. Others have the liberty to boycott you either individually or as a business. You have the liberty to walk around without a shirt or shoes; others have the liberty to deny you entry if you are not wearing a shirt or shoes. You have the liberty to decline vaccination; an employer or business has the liberty to tell you to find another job or to dine or shop elsewhere. Liberty is a two-way street.
3. In the governmental context, the state has the right to create rules for public safety, health, and economic protection. This is why there are seat-belt laws, no smoking signs, mandatory auto insurance, mandatory vaccination for school attendance and travel to certain countries, etc. Of course in this country we prefer that the government have as light a footprint as possible because of the tension between personal liberty and the protection of the community.
4. As a matter of basic science, unvaccinated people pose a risk not only to other unvaccinated people, but also to vaccinated people in both the short and long term. The risk to other unvaccinated people - some of whom are unable to be vaccinated for one reason or another - goes without saying. The short-term risk to vaccinated people is that vaccination is not complete protection against infection. It is largely protective against infection, and it reduces the severity of illness, but there is still some risk. More importantly, the long-term risk to vaccinated people is that each time a virus replicates, there is a chance of mutation. As time goes on, mutation becomes inevitable. (This of course is how we got the Delta variant). Viruses do not mutate to become less effective, they mutate to become more effective. So the longer the virus circulates as a result of the large number of unvaccinated people, the greater the odds are that it will mutate into a form against which vaccination will be less effective.
Certainly everyone is free to do what they want. However, someone who chooses not to be vaccinated because they view that as an exercise of their individual liberty should not complain if they are denied entry by others who consider protecting themselves and contributing to the common good to be an exercise of their own individual liberty.