Compulsory Vaccinations
Members of the wider community are discussing the need for workers and customers of various business to be double vaccinated, some discussions are more confronting than others with street protests and individuals behaving very badly.
Our Society is founded on the need for some individual restrictions for the safety of all. Workers at a construction site are required to wear fluoro vests, hard hats and steel-toed boots and wear long sleeve shirts. They are also required not to drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke in work areas. These restrictions are for the safety of all. Workers who work with children are required to have a “Working with Children Check” by Police for the safety of the children. Nurses and doctors working in hospitals and operating theatres are required to scrub up, wear fresh garments each day and wear appropriate personal protection equipment.
When we drive a vehicle on a public road we are required to wear a seat-belt, have passed a licence test, to not drink alcohol or drugs (ie under the influence of these) and obey the speed limit. Drivers also are restricted to designated parking spaces (you can’t park in the middle of a freeway) or drive through a shopping mall.
There are a myriad of examples where individual restrictions occur in society and we generally do not abuse these as they are always for the safety of the individual and those around us.
Science has shown over 200 years that vaccinations are effective against many, many diseases. The Covid pandemic has shown the safety of covid vaccinations in that almost 5 billion people have been vaccinated and relatively few have had major problems.
Those ending up in ICUs around the world are generally those who are now unvaccinated or those who have serious underlying medical conditions or are of an older age. If more people were vaccinated then even those with such co-morbidities, would be less likely to contract the disease.
Having a vaccination once or twice a year is far less onerous than having to gear-up every day to work on a construction site.
Yes, people in this society do have freedom of choice. If you choose not to get a driver’s licence then you can’t drive a vehicle; if you choose not to wear protective clothing on a construction site then you have made the choice to not work there. If you choose not to be vaccinated for whatever reason, then you choose not to work with me, not to attend the football with me, not eat with me in a restaurant and not travel on public transport with me.
Every choice we make in life has consequences. Make the choice and live with the consequences. As Jacquie Lambie, the Senator from Tasmania said, “Be a bloody adult!”