{"id":2944,"date":"2022-01-26T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexet.wpengine.com\/?p=2944"},"modified":"2022-01-26T11:49:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T11:49:04","slug":"opinion-the-war-against-the-unvaccinated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=2944","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: The War against the Unvaccinated"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 55 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

\u201cHave you been vaccinated?\u201d This question is asked countless times a day. It was not long ago when one\u2019s vaccination status was private, medical information. Now, it is the norm for the bouncer at a club, or a waiter at a restaurant, to demand proof that you have had received vaccinations. The message is clear: take the jab, or be shunned from society. Governments, apparently, know best when it comes to your health. Those who disobey \u2013 the stigmatised \u201cunvaccinated\u201d \u2013 will face the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the case in many countries. New Zealand is seeking an impossible \u2018Covid-Zero\u2019 policy, and an individual must be fully vaccinated in order to enter Australia. Over 60s face vaccine mandates in\u00a0Italy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Greece<\/a>, and a vaccine mandate is set to affect over 18s in\u00a0Austria<\/a>. France and Austria effectively treat the unvaccinated or even the partially vaccinated\u00a0as second-class citizens<\/a>, as a negative test\u00a0no longer provides a loophole<\/a>\u00a0for the un-vaxxed\u2019s vaccine passports. France\u2019s president Macron is on the record saying that he wants to\u00a0\u201cpiss off\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the un-vaxxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK is not innocent in the discrimination against unvaccinated individuals. A vaccine mandate is currently in place for care-home workers, and is due to effect NHS workers in February<\/a>. Boris Johnson also temporarily implemented<\/a> domestic vaccine passports, where individuals had to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test in order to enter venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson has been under a lot of criticism lately, and it is particularly disappointing to me that the leader of the Conservative party and an apparent libertarian nonetheless supported vaccine passports as a means to increase vaccine uptake in the UK. Former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, called Johnson out for not following his libertarian values. In a video with Double Down News<\/a>, Corbyn discussed his opposition to vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, sharing his concerns that they are a slippery slope to identity cards. He also argued that coercion is not a productive form of persuasion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that vaccine uptake is incredibly high in the UK, at over 80%,<\/a> seemed to be a moot point for the government, who have only recently backed down from implementing vaccine passports. Considering that the vaccines do not entirely reduce transmission of Covid (which is \u2013 by now \u2013 mostly a mild illness) also highlights the sheer lack of logic in the UK\u2019s and other countries\u2019 Covid policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are the governments trying to protect? Is Macron genuinely concerned about everyone\u2019s vulnerable grandparents, or is this a blatant abuse of power? Does Johnson believe that only allowing fully-vaxxed individuals into clubs will distract the public from the 10 (and counting) illegal parties<\/a> he allegedly attended during the first lockdown? Has someone forgotten to mention to NZ leader Jacinda Ardern that any policy seeking to reduce a highly contagious illness to zero is inconceivable, and is tyranny waiting to happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it is not just our governmental officials that seem to enjoy punishing the unvaccinated for the two-year-long pandemic. Empathy and compassion are apparently not an option for families of unvaccinated individuals who died of Covid. Some have suggested<\/a> that a vaccinated person should be prioritised for an ICU hospital bed over an unvaccinated person. An article from LA Times<\/em> titled \u2018Mocking anti-vaxxers\u2019 COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes \u2013 but maybe necessary\u2019<\/a> discusses the apparent \u2018moral dilemma\u2019 over how to react to deaths of the unvaccinated, asking the question, \u2018why shouldn\u2019t we dance on the graves of anti-vaxxers?\u2019. Similar articles<\/a> have mentioned the unsensitively coined term \u2018suicide by Covid\u2019 to refer to an unvaccinated person\u2019s death from Covid. Websites<\/a> and Subreddits<\/a> have been dedicated to listing unvaccinated individuals who have been hospitalised or died from Covid, with some comments as despicable as, \u2018It makes me happy to see another anti-vaxxed, bimbo dead where she belongs.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should go without saying that an individual deserves to receive compassion and empathy when they are subject to serious illness, regardless of their medical history.  Just as an obese individual does not deserve a heart-attack, and it is not a happy occasion when a chain-smoker develops lung cancer, an unvaccinated individual dying from Covid is not an opportunity to act as though justice has been served. As doctor Matt Wynia<\/a> said, \u2018We don\u2019t use [the medical-care system] to punish people for their social choices\u2019. What has happened to people\u2019s ability to look past political motives and see each other as humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to make the distinction that un-vaxxed individual is not synonymous with anti-vaxxer. Anti-vaxxers discredit the value and efficacy of vaccines as a whole, and seek to discourage anyone from taking any vaccine. Unvaccinated people, however, simply have not received the Covid vaccine. That does not necessarily mean that they are against vaccinations generally, or even against the Covid vaccine itself. There are many valid reasons to not receive the Covid vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such reason was recently raised by Dr Steve James, consultant at King\u2019s College Hospital. A video of him discussing vaccine mandates<\/a> for NHS staff with Sajid Javid recently went viral, where he made the point that the antibodies he has received from the virus is enough protection for him not to need the vaccine. In an article with The Spectator<\/em><\/a>, he wrote that \u2018Deriding those who disagree with you \u2013 like turning to coercion or overturning bodily autonomy \u2013 marks the point where we begin to fail as a free society.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not against vaccinations. I, myself, am vaccinated. However, I am against coercive measures to pressure individuals into getting a vaccine that they do not want, for whatever reason. That includes vaccine mandates, vaccine passports, fines, and societal stigma of the unvaccinated that is turning them into \u2018the lepers of Jesus\u2019s day\u2019<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent months have shown the growing war against the unvaccinated, by governments and individuals alike. There is a worrying trend of governments becoming fascistic nanny-states, but it is apparent that the citizens\u2019 health is not the governments\u2019 concerns, but rather the citizens\u2019 complacency and obedience. It is long overdue to rekindle our bodily autonomies and renounce the creation of second-class citizenship. Vaccination is a personal choice, and insisting proof of vaccination in order to simply have a pint at the local pub is draconian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/health-fitness\/body\/nhs-medics-picking-no-jab-job\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-59902929<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/covid-unvaccinated-modern-day-lepers\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jan\/11\/quebec-health-tax-unvaccinated-coronavirus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/politics\/canadians-are-angry-with-the-unvaccinated-trudeau-1.5728855?utm_campaign=wp_todays_worldview&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_todayworld<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk\/news\/health\/yarmouth-grandmother-speaks-of-jab-discrimiation-8613136<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cHave you been vaccinated?\u201d This question is asked countless times a day. It was not long ago when one\u2019s vaccination status was private, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,6,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid19","category-featured","category-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}