I heard an interesting thought experiment over the weekend.
"I am an adult with an automobile. I have a current operator's license with no demerits. The vehicle is paid for and I have the requisite amount of liability insurance.
"If I should cause an accident with my vehicle, the damages would be paid for up to a certain threshold, and I could be held liable for any uncovered damages if I am determined to be at fault.
"Being an adult, it is completely legal for me to both purchase and consume alcohol in appropriate settings.
"So my two questions are, first, why am I not able to drink to excess and then drive my vehicle? I haven't caused anyone any harm yet, and I may not at all. If I speed or drive outside my lane, there are plenty of other laws that I can be punished with.
"Secondly, how am I different from a person who refuses to get vaccinated against Covid because they don't want to?"
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Vaccinations and vaccination mandates are obviously complicated topics.
It is unfair to consider the 20 per cent or so of unvaccinated Albertans as a monolith, all of whom fear conspiratorial agendas, experimental vaccines or government subjugation.
There are legitimate problems with access for many people, as described in this Edmonton Journal opinion piece. This is something that I hoped might be mitigated by the government's $100 gift card incentive. This deluge of "Kenney bucks" saw only the smallest uptick in vaccinations though - the vaccine passport mandate - sorry, "restrictions exemption program" - saw a threefold increase in the reluctant or uncertain getting their jabs.
As the Journal editorial says, "vaccine misinformation is rampant, particularly in pockets of Alberta. People who are not fundamentally opposed to the vaccine are frightened, uncertain about who to trust, and overwhelmed by relentless peer messaging."
But beyond this are a group of people who seem hell-bent on not doing anything their government or a vast, vast majority of health professionals are recommending to stop a pandemic that has killed over 2600 people in Alberta.
Our ICUs are nearly at capacity, surgeries and other medical procedures are being cancelled or postponed, and health care workers are very close to burning out...and there are still those who feel we should let Covid run its course, or are willing to let everyone else get the vaccine in order that we can achieve herd immunity as a society.
Will Rogers used to say, "the freedom for you to swing your fist ends where my nose begins," but there are still those who seem to value their freedom and convenience more than the safety of those they interact with. Or even themselves - the current coterie of arguments bear more than a passing familiarity to those heard when seatbelt legislation was passed in the 1970s.
And to be clear: I am not talking about people who cannot be vaccinated or have been advised not to be because of their particular medical or health situation or people who for whatever reason are unable o get their vaccination.
But those people holding anti-vaxx protests in front of hospitals, who claim the vaccines are "experimental" (with full approval now in most jurisdictions and nearly 3.5 billion vaccinated) or that the entire "pandemic" is a means of inuring the masses to government control (wow, that is some unprecedented cooperation among world governments, some of whom are not on the best of terms these days!), these ignoramuses helping to clog our hospitals and further cripple our economy...
... how are these misguided individuals doing anything except arguing for their right to drive drunk?
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