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Max Boot: Opinion: Stop pleading with anti-vaxxers and start mandating vaccinations

cigaretteman

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Remember when Americans would gladly make sacrifices and do the right thing for the good of the country and its people? That was before the Republicans became the party of personal greed and no responsibility:

Opinion by
Max Boot
Columnist
July 19, 2021|Updated today at 2:53 p.m. EDT


It’s time to get serious about coronavirus vaccinations. Stop pleading and start mandating.
For the past six months, President Biden, joined by every public health authority in the land, has been begging Americans to get vaccinated. The “pretty, please” approach isn’t working. According to The Post’s covid-19 tracker, in the past week, daily reported covid-19 cases rose 66 percent, covid-related hospitalizations rose 28 percent, and daily reported covid-19 deaths rose 20 percent. With the delta variant spreading across the country, every single state has seen an increase in cases over the past seven days.

This is a preventable tragedy. Over 99 percent of covid-19 deaths in June were among the unvaccinated. Yet even as evidence grows that vaccines are safe and effective, resistance to them is also growing. A recent Post-ABC News poll found that 29 percent of Americans said they were unlikely to get vaccinated — up from 24 percent three months earlier. Only 59 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.






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There is vaccine hesitancy among many different sectors of the population, including reckless youths, granola liberals who believe in alternative medicines and African Americans who distrust the health-care system. Some are still persuadable, but many are not. As I’ve previously noted, the biggest obstacle to vaccination is now Republicans who are being fed a steady diet of anti-vaxxer propaganda by Fox “News” Channel, Facebook and other social media, and reckless demagogues such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
The same Post-ABC News poll found that 86 percent of Democrats had gotten at least one vaccine shot compared with only 45 percent of Republicans. Right-wingers are literally dying to own the libs. In the process they are ensuring that deadly variants will continue to circulate, endangering school reopenings and preventing a return to normalcy.
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
This is madness. Stop making reasonable appeals to those who will not listen to reason. (According to an Economist/YouGov poll, a majority of those who refuse to get vaccinated say vaccines are being used by the government to implant microchips.) It’s a waste of time. Start mandating that anyone who wants to travel on an airplane, train or bus, attend a concert or movie, eat at a restaurant, shop at a store, work in an office or visit any other indoor space show proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test.



For months, Republicans have been caterwauling about vaccine passports, even obscenely comparing them to the Holocaust. All this sturm und drang obscures the fact there has been far too little use made of vaccine passports. I downloaded a New York state app on my iPhone months ago to verify that I’m vaccinated, but I’ve never once had to show it. Instead, many stores have signs saying that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks — but they don’t verify vaccination. That provides no incentive to get your shots. Los Angeles County is also treating vaccinated and unvaccinated alike by again requiring masks for everyone. Why not just mandate proof of vaccination or a negative test?
European countries also favored a voluntary approach to vaccinations initially, but now they are moving in the direction of mandates. French President Emmanuel Macron just mandated compulsory vaccinations for all health-care workers by Sept. 15 and declared that, starting Aug. 1, anyone who wants to enter cafes, restaurants, theaters, long-distance trains or shopping malls must have proof of vaccination or a negative test. This announcement prompted more than 3 million people to register for shots in just five days. Germany, Italy and Spain have already raced ahead of the United States in the percentage of the population that has been partially or fully vaccinated, and France will soon overtake us too.
In the United States, the authority of state governments to mandate vaccinations is clear — it goes all the way back to a 1905 Supreme Court case that upheld a Massachusetts law requiring vaccinations for smallpox. More recently, governors have used their public health powers to mandate mask-wearing and social distancing to fight covid-19. They ought to now take the logical next step and mandate vaccinations for the use of indoor spaces outside the home.



Biden can set an example by using his authority to mandate vaccinations for airline travel and Amtrak travel and for federal employees or those who enter federal buildings. The Pentagon has not made vaccinations mandatory because they were approved only on an emergency basis by the Food and Drug Administration — which is why a third of the military still hasn’t received a single shot. Biden can and should issue an executive order mandating military vaccinations as a national security priority.
Granted, there are limits to the United States’ ability to mandate vaccines because many red-state governors are unlikely to go along. But even Republicans want to fly on airplanes and visit blue states such as California, Hawaii, Nevada and New York. Vaccine mandates will prove controversial, to put it mildly, but, like seat belt laws, drunken driving laws and motorcycle helmet laws, they will save lives. We should not grant an unreasonable minority the power to endanger public health.

 
I listened to a podcast yesterday where they suggested that the vaccine be moved to an OOP cost of $500 on October 1st. They thought that essentially losing its free status in the near future will motivate a significant portion of the unvaccinated to get off their collective asses and get jabbed. They might be on to something there possibly.
 
I'm vaccinated. I got Moderna as soon as I was eligible.

I took a risk. I have an allergy to a widely used prescription drug. As a result, I had to hang around an extra 30 minutes after each dose to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction.

For me, with an identifiable risk, it was worth it. I understand why some people might not want to take such a risk. Since I believe in the vaccine, I'm not concerned about catching the virus or variants. If I do catch the virus, I assume the effects will be mild.

It would be wrong to mandate something that may have a greater chance of harm than the virus, at an individual level.

I'm responsible for me, and my health. I now have multiple solutions for protecting myself.
 
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These people are dangers. Lets not minimize this. And because of this I fully support vaccine passports barring them from all kinds of events, jobs, and schools.
You realize, there are people with legitimate reasons, to not be vaccinated.
 
Why?,.. It's already been determined that the vaccinated are equally capable of contracting and passing on the virus,.. The only way the unvaccinated differ is with the potential personal health risk they have chosen to accept..
Taking up hospital space puts us all in danger. Taking up valuable medical resources puts us all in danger.
 
Why?,.. It's already been determined that the vaccinated are equally capable of contracting and passing on the virus,.. The only way the unvaccinated differ is with the potential personal health risk they have chosen to accept..

I think this goes against current science. While the vaccine does not eliminate the possibility of getting and transmitting covid, it does greatly reduce the risk. That is from the cdc website.
 
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I listened to a podcast yesterday where they suggested that the vaccine be moved to an OOP cost of $500 on October 1st. They thought that essentially losing its free status in the near future will motivate a significant portion of the unvaccinated to get off their collective asses and get jabbed. They might be on to something there possibly.
That might be the best idea I’ve heard on this thing
 
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No, they are not. Trump told me it was all a hoax is not a legitimate reason.
I had a legitimate reason (drug allergy) to not be vaccinated. I chose to take a risk and get vaccinated anyway.

Trump fast tracked the vaccines, and has been vaccinated even though he had the virus. He could certainly do more in being a proponent, but he's not been anti-vax.
 
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Remember when Americans would gladly make sacrifices and do the right thing for the good of the country and its people? That was before the Republicans became the party of personal greed and no responsibility:

Opinion by
Max Boot
Columnist
July 19, 2021|Updated today at 2:53 p.m. EDT


It’s time to get serious about coronavirus vaccinations. Stop pleading and start mandating.
For the past six months, President Biden, joined by every public health authority in the land, has been begging Americans to get vaccinated. The “pretty, please” approach isn’t working. According to The Post’s covid-19 tracker, in the past week, daily reported covid-19 cases rose 66 percent, covid-related hospitalizations rose 28 percent, and daily reported covid-19 deaths rose 20 percent. With the delta variant spreading across the country, every single state has seen an increase in cases over the past seven days.

This is a preventable tragedy. Over 99 percent of covid-19 deaths in June were among the unvaccinated. Yet even as evidence grows that vaccines are safe and effective, resistance to them is also growing. A recent Post-ABC News poll found that 29 percent of Americans said they were unlikely to get vaccinated — up from 24 percent three months earlier. Only 59 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.






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There is vaccine hesitancy among many different sectors of the population, including reckless youths, granola liberals who believe in alternative medicines and African Americans who distrust the health-care system. Some are still persuadable, but many are not. As I’ve previously noted, the biggest obstacle to vaccination is now Republicans who are being fed a steady diet of anti-vaxxer propaganda by Fox “News” Channel, Facebook and other social media, and reckless demagogues such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
The same Post-ABC News poll found that 86 percent of Democrats had gotten at least one vaccine shot compared with only 45 percent of Republicans. Right-wingers are literally dying to own the libs. In the process they are ensuring that deadly variants will continue to circulate, endangering school reopenings and preventing a return to normalcy.
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
This is madness. Stop making reasonable appeals to those who will not listen to reason. (According to an Economist/YouGov poll, a majority of those who refuse to get vaccinated say vaccines are being used by the government to implant microchips.) It’s a waste of time. Start mandating that anyone who wants to travel on an airplane, train or bus, attend a concert or movie, eat at a restaurant, shop at a store, work in an office or visit any other indoor space show proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test.



For months, Republicans have been caterwauling about vaccine passports, even obscenely comparing them to the Holocaust. All this sturm und drang obscures the fact there has been far too little use made of vaccine passports. I downloaded a New York state app on my iPhone months ago to verify that I’m vaccinated, but I’ve never once had to show it. Instead, many stores have signs saying that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks — but they don’t verify vaccination. That provides no incentive to get your shots. Los Angeles County is also treating vaccinated and unvaccinated alike by again requiring masks for everyone. Why not just mandate proof of vaccination or a negative test?
European countries also favored a voluntary approach to vaccinations initially, but now they are moving in the direction of mandates. French President Emmanuel Macron just mandated compulsory vaccinations for all health-care workers by Sept. 15 and declared that, starting Aug. 1, anyone who wants to enter cafes, restaurants, theaters, long-distance trains or shopping malls must have proof of vaccination or a negative test. This announcement prompted more than 3 million people to register for shots in just five days. Germany, Italy and Spain have already raced ahead of the United States in the percentage of the population that has been partially or fully vaccinated, and France will soon overtake us too.
In the United States, the authority of state governments to mandate vaccinations is clear — it goes all the way back to a 1905 Supreme Court case that upheld a Massachusetts law requiring vaccinations for smallpox. More recently, governors have used their public health powers to mandate mask-wearing and social distancing to fight covid-19. They ought to now take the logical next step and mandate vaccinations for the use of indoor spaces outside the home.



Biden can set an example by using his authority to mandate vaccinations for airline travel and Amtrak travel and for federal employees or those who enter federal buildings. The Pentagon has not made vaccinations mandatory because they were approved only on an emergency basis by the Food and Drug Administration — which is why a third of the military still hasn’t received a single shot. Biden can and should issue an executive order mandating military vaccinations as a national security priority.
Granted, there are limits to the United States’ ability to mandate vaccines because many red-state governors are unlikely to go along. But even Republicans want to fly on airplanes and visit blue states such as California, Hawaii, Nevada and New York. Vaccine mandates will prove controversial, to put it mildly, but, like seat belt laws, drunken driving laws and motorcycle helmet laws, they will save lives. We should not grant an unreasonable minority the power to endanger public health.



These people are dangers. Lets not minimize this. And because of this I fully support vaccine passports barring them from all kinds of events, jobs, and schools.
So, you, Max Boot and other lefties won’t agree when that plan proves to be incredibly racist as less than 40% of Hispanics and less than 35% of blacks have been fully vaccinated?
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Who could have EVER seen that coming?

The jack-booted Max Boot wants the government to hold their boot to the throat of the American people and force them to accept the decision of a superior power.

The more things change...... :rolleyes:
 
Trump fast tracked the vaccines, and has been vaccinated even though he had the virus. He could certainly do more in being a proponent, but he's not been anti-vax.

Eh, perhaps you should research this......because this is so wrong on a number of accounts.

Trump started the fast track only after a number of completely stupid decisions on his part:

In Obama's last few years he formed a panel discussing how to create a universal playbook on how to attack a pandemic. (Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents) What did Trump do only a few weeks after he was elected? He scrapped it for one that was created by his administration.......and we all know why he did that.

And what's worse is that Trump didn't even follow his own protocols:

Trump administration replaced 'pandemic playbook,' then ignored aspects of its own plans

This sums up his presidency perfectly

EDIT: Trumps been an antivaxer since 2007

"When I was growing up, autism wasn't really a factor," Trump told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2007. "And now all of a sudden, it's an epidemic … My theory is the shots. We're giving these massive injections at one time, and I really think it does something to the children." He has repeated this theory on Twitter, television, and debate stages.
 
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How do you mandate someone take a vaccine that might kill them? I'm talking about people with specific drug allergies who are recommended to not take the vaccine.
 
How about the FDA get off it’s ass and give full approval of the vaccines?
Isn't the expectation is that 'full approval' is a process that you don't short cut?

Do we presume they're not doing what would normally be required for 'full approval'?

Seems to me if they gave it 'full approval' and then it came out they didn't follow the normal process it would hurt the credibility of said announcement.
 
Isn't the expectation is that 'full approval' is a process that you don't short cut?

Do we presume they're not doing what would normally be required for 'full approval'?

Seems to me if they gave it 'full approval' and then it came out they didn't follow the normal process it would hurt the credibility of said announcement.
The argument against the anti vaxers is that vaccines are perfectly safe but the FDA can’t be rushed to give full approval?
 
The argument against the anti vaxers is that vaccines are perfectly safe but the FDA can’t be rushed to give full approval?
They have issued an emergency approval, but 'full approval' is a process that involves trials, etc., right? I'm no expert in this, nor claiming to be, but if you short circuit the normal process of 'full approval' I can't help but think that will just undermine confidence in the notion of 'full approval'.
 
I'm no expert in this, nor claiming to be, but if you short circuit the normal process of 'full approval' I can't help but think that will just undermine confidence in the notion of 'full approval'.
Makes perfect sense,.. How about we give individuals the same amount of breathing room to make their vaccine decision.
 
Makes perfect sense,.. How about we give individuals the same amount of breathing room to make their vaccine decision.
I don't read Max Boot regularly, so I can't confirm it's universal, but I've never seen something posted here attributed to him that I actually agreed with.
 
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