my body, my choice

there are anti-vaxx people who are now saying "my body, my choice" which, obviously, upsets pro-abortionists. here's the thing, they're not the same bodies or choices. anti-abortionists don't generally deny abortions in order to take control of your body, they do it because (they say) they don't want the fetus (which probably would become a baby) to be "murdered." there's a direct causation that if you have an abortion, this baby will not be born.

on the other hand, anti-vaxxers want to control their own bodies mostly for themselves. yes a large pool of unvaccinated people will give a virus opportunity to mutate into something that be cause vaccinations to become ineffective which in turn may cause you to become sick, but you can't say that this person not getting vaccinated will definitely get someone sick.

this is a poor analogy, and we should stop getting riled up about it. 

all this being said. I do believe in a right to abortions, and also lean towards mandatory vaccinations. I can't say that I'm 100% for it because, like, how would be enforce that? by forcibly vaccinating people at gunpoint or by threatening fines or jail time? those options seem crazy. altho, we have actually vaccinated people by gunpoint before (seriously, see slide 4). I do like that in many public schools kids can't attend unless their vaccinated against certain things (usually DTaP and MMR) but I don't quite know how you can enforce that with adults working in non-governmental agencies. I guess you could say people entering federal land need to show proof of vaccination along with govt issued ID, but that seems kind of ridiculous since there is a LOT of federal land and what does this regulation even really do?

one thing I would like to see if that the govt should at some point establish a deadline of "get the shot before then or we won't pay for your medical bills if you do get COVID." like, you had PLENTY of opportunity to get the shot, for free, and you just didn't. there would be exceptions for certain people (those who can't vs those who won't), but most of the currently unvaccinated have just chosen not to get it done.  

vaccinating teachers

Axios - Teachers want the vaccine, but they'll have to wait
WBEZ Chicago - Chicago Teachers Say They Won’t Put Their Families At Risk By Returning To The Classroom

this is so ridiculous. of COURSE we should vaccinate teachers before REQUIRING them to go back to work in classrooms!! people under 16 aren't even approved for vaccination yet they for sure can get sick and/or pass it along.

wtf would even be the point of not vaccinating teachers anyway? they'll start to get sick right away, need to take time off, we'll hire subs, who will also get sick, and eventually we'll be out of teachers. how is this a necessary process? 

honestly, i'm so annoyed that most countries are vaccinating the elderly and at risk before the actual essential workers, or even the rest of the working population. in america all we hear about is opening up the economy, but how can we do that if we can't go back to work or do regular things because we're afraid of getting sick? yes, vaccinating the elderly will prevent more deaths, but that's not actually useful in the long run. more useful would be vaccinating teachers, postal workers, bus drivers, people who are forced to come into contact with many people. this will slow the spread of the disease sooner than it would if we were to vaccinate older or more at-risk populations first. high on our priority list would also be essential workers like grocery store people, delivery people, agricultural workers, people who cannot work from home. they keep the world running, not retired people who can choose to stay home or go out. 

i'm not against the elderly getting vaccinated, but it doesn't make much sense to base their priority sorely on age. a more reasonable criteria would be job sector. i do understand that it's much easier to do this by age though since you can "prove" that much more easily. 

related article from Reuters: Why Indonesia is vaccinating its working population first, not elderly

an excerpt: "Younger working adults are generally more active, more social and travel more so this strategy should decrease community transmission faster than vaccinating older individuals,” he said."

I think that it may seem more moral to vaccinate the elderly first because it will prevent more immediate deaths. however, I do think that in the long term, vaccinating more "essential" and "active" people first would prevent more total deaths and long term negative effects in the world, including, yes, the global economy. 

also, this article about Age groups' contribution to COVID-19 transmission in the U.S.!!!