cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/18500298
I want a strongly pro-vaccine culture, but whether or not to have vaccines mandated by the government is a tough dilemma for me.
I expect America’s overall health to improve and catch up with the rest of the world under RFK Jr. because of his support for vaccine/drug testing that’s free from corporate capture and his ambition to mitigate chronic disease.
I can respond to your point about conspiracy theories if you’re more specific.
If all of your supporters think vaccines cause diseases, if you’re elected you’re going to need to satisfy them by acting on those beliefs.
I think, in the abstract, you’re right - having any sort of health procedure mandated by the govt is extremely problematic. However hugely communicable diseases are a big caveat to that principle, and we have been doing something about that for a long long time.
Typhoid Mary was forcibly detained because, over and over again, she kept spreading the disease. Several different times, bird flu was halted before it could get too widespread because of govt mandated culls. Smallpox was completely eradicated because of vaccine efforts.
Imagine if in any of those cases people said ‘freedom’ was primary and prevented coercion for vaccines. The death and injury toll would be much higher by today, including those of the young and the immunocompromised.
Right now my gut reaction is that local governments, but not higher levels of authority, should be able to do what was done to Typhoid Mary, until we have sufficiently convenient and effective ways to be protected from contagious diseases without the cooperation of other people.
