'Freedom' to refuse COVID vaccine violates rights of others (LTTE)

[struggle4progress]

Greenville News

... you do have the freedom to decide about getting vaccinated; what you don't have is the "right" to infect and endanger everyone you work with and interact with with a disease you can have and pass without symptoms. Your "rights" end when they endanger the rest of us ...

This is not political. It is public health ...

You don't want to get vaxxed? Fine. Stay home and don't interact with others, especially the vulnerable.

And by the way, in this right-to-work state, your employer doesn't need a reason to fire you ...

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/opinion/2021/10/30/letter-dont-want-covid-vaccine-fine-stay-home-dont-interact/8564661002/

[struggle4progress]

1. After 100 years of vaccine mandates, we're still OK

Carolyn R. Levy
Oct. 30, 2021

Vaccines save 2.5 million lives every year, and protect millions more from disability and illness ...

... Vaccine hesitancy is common in developed countries like the U.S., where vaccine-preventable illnesses are no longer commonplace, but remain a risk to society. It’s a paradox that threatens public health and will continue to bring back once-eradicated diseases. Measles, once eradicated here, has made a resurgence ...

For 100 years, vaccine mandates in schools have resulted in decreased childhood mortality and eradication of disease. States like Connecticut have been working to combat hesitancy by strengthening childhood vaccine mandates. While no major religion opposes vaccination, some individuals avoid mandates through religious exemptions. Connecticut passed a bill recently that eliminated the religious exemption opt-out ...

Allowing parents to decide if their children receive recommended vaccinations historically does not yield vaccination uptake levels needed to maintain herd immunity; hence vaccine mandates are a necessary tool to persuade the public to comply. Parental lack of confidence in vaccines, plus vaccine misinformation, leads to complacency. Past vaccine programs have been successful over the years, so many modern parents don’t see these diseases as the threat they are ...

https://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Opinion-100-years-of-vaccine-mandates-and-16574643.php

[struggle4progress]

2. Supreme Court declines to block Maine vaccine mandate

Associated Press
Updated: October 29, 2021 10:20 PM
Created: October 29, 2021 06:14 PM

The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from health care workers in Maine to block a vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday.

Three conservative justices noted their dissents. The state is not offering a religious exemption to hospital and nursing home workers who risk losing their jobs if they are not vaccinated.

Only New York and Rhode Island also have vaccine mandates for health care workers that lack religious exemptions. Both are the subject of court fights and a court has allowed workers in New York to seek religious exemptions while the lawsuit plays out ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=15999032

[struggle4progress]

3. Parents were fine with school vaccine mandates in the past

By James Colgrove
Oct 28, 2021, 4:00pm CDT

... School vaccination mandates have been around since the 19th century, and they became a fixture in all 50 states in the 1970s. Vaccine requirements are among the most effective means of controlling infectious diseases, but they’re currently under attack by small but vocal minorities of parents who consider them unacceptable intrusions on parental rights ...

... in the 1850s, as universal public education became more common, people recognized that schoolhouses were likely sites for the spread of disease. Some states and localities began enacting laws tying school attendance to vaccination. The smallpox vaccine was crude by today’s standards, and concerns about its safety led to numerous lawsuits over mandates.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld compulsory vaccination in two decisions. The first, in 1905, affirmed that mandates are constitutional. The second, in 1922, specifically upheld school-based requirements. In spite of these rulings, many states lacked a smallpox vaccination law, and some states that did have one failed to enforce it consistently. Few states updated their laws as new vaccines became available.

... in the 1960s ... all states updated old laws or enacted new ones, which generally covered all seven childhood vaccines that had been developed by that time: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella. In 1968, just half the states had school vaccination requirements; by 1981, all states did ...

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/10/28/22750917/covid-19-school-vaccine-mandates-parental-rights-history-james-colgrove-column

[malaise]

4. Correct

Get the effin vaccine and stop being a nuisance
Rec