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You're the kind of guy who doesn't wear a seatbelt and speeds through red lights to protest the government telling you what to do? Or are you smart enough to un

You're the kind of guy who doesn't wear a seatbelt and speeds through red lights to protest the government telling you what to do? Or are you smart enough to understand why it's important that we have rules that mandate certain behaviors? (Not that getting vaccinated will actually be mandatory.)

petertodd 6y ago
Mandatory seatbelts happened slowly, not in an emergency, after years of debate and clear scientific research. You can't compare that to the current situation with COVID-19. Remember that we've accelerated testing so much that we literally don't even know yet if these vaccines actually provide a mortality benefit: there just isn't enough data yet. You can't even compare this situation to other uses of vaccines. Not that I'm even aware of us ever successfully stopping a serious pandemic with a vaccine (with H1N1 the vaccines came too late to do much good, and the pandemic was much less serious than we thought). Some countries simply can't deploy them yet, as their laws don't allow for emergency approvals: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/emergency-vaccine-approval-not-legal-option-in-switzerland/46217840 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/emergency-vaccine-approval-not-...
- UncleMeat 6y ago
  > after years of debate And also years of screaming about rights being abused while people died unnecessarily in car crashes. Today, the people who resisted seatbelts are rightfully regarded as fools. Are you an epidemiologist? How effective is your ability to personally judge the scientific debate here?
- chasing 6y ago
  And those who volunteered to wear seatbelts before they were mandated were safer than those who refused. And saved society money and their friends and family grief by not dying in a preventable way. So wear your seat belt, get your vaccine when offered, and when we’re finally able to safely go into restaurants, please do not annoy the hostess with long rants about how it’s your civic duty to not wear pants because the government mandates it. She’s not going to care about the political theory — she’s just going to need you to leave.

petertodd 6y ago

Mandatory seatbelts happened slowly, not in an emergency, after years of debate and clear scientific research. You can't compare that to the current situation with COVID-19. Remember that we've accelerated testing so much that we literally don't even know yet if these vaccines actually provide a mortality benefit: there just isn't enough data yet. You can't even compare this situation to other uses of vaccines. Not that I'm even aware of us ever successfully stopping a serious pandemic with a vaccine (with H1N1 the vaccines came too late to do much good, and the pandemic was much less serious than we thought). Some countries simply can't deploy them yet, as their laws don't allow for emergency approvals: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/emergency-vaccine-approval-not-legal-option-in-switzerland/46217840 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/emergency-vaccine-approval-not-...

UncleMeat 6y ago
> after years of debate And also years of screaming about rights being abused while people died unnecessarily in car crashes. Today, the people who resisted seatbelts are rightfully regarded as fools. Are you an epidemiologist? How effective is your ability to personally judge the scientific debate here?
chasing 6y ago
And those who volunteered to wear seatbelts before they were mandated were safer than those who refused. And saved society money and their friends and family grief by not dying in a preventable way. So wear your seat belt, get your vaccine when offered, and when we’re finally able to safely go into restaurants, please do not annoy the hostess with long rants about how it’s your civic duty to not wear pants because the government mandates it. She’s not going to care about the political theory — she’s just going to need you to leave.