Fine the unvaccinated

THE EDITOR: I promise that this is the last time I will have anything to say publicly on the vaccination issue. However, I write to disagree with this one point made in a recent letter: “It’s been over a year now…and those who don’t want the vaccine are not going to take it – bottom line! That is their choice, and they have the right to so choose.”

Our Government, like most others, has mandated the wearing of seat belts with the penalty of a fine if occupants of vehicles don’t. So why don’t errant drivers not tell the police or magistrate that they have the right to choose?

There is no doubt that seat belts save lives. It is also true that the seat belt itself can do damage to the wearer and if, say, the vehicle ends up in deep water, the it may prevent the wearer from escaping and the person may drown.

A seat belt is uncomfortable, but most of us wear it because the advantages exceed the disadvantages. Unfortunately, there are those who do not see it this way, but still wear it to avoid being charged and fined.

The case for a vaccine mandate is even more compelling. There is incontrovertible proof that the vaccines protect not only the vaccinated (as is the case with the wearer of the seat belt) but also the unvaccinated. It is not fool proof, but neither is the seat belt. Therefore I am convinced that not only should the vaccine be mandated, but a fine should be imposed on those who are able to get vaccinated but refuse to do so.

I firmly believe that the Government would have mandated the covid19 vaccines a long time ago and TT would have been in a much better place than it is in at present. However, the blowback it is getting from the Opposition, the unions and some Evangelical pastors has tempered its approach.

I find it particularly disgusting that some vaccinated individuals encourage others not to vaccinate on the spurious argument that it is their “right” to choose. Remember that all our so-called rights are circumscribed by those of the general public.

I observed that several public servants who were interviewed after getting their vaccine said they were doing so to keep their jobs. Perhaps the rest could be convinced if they were fined if unable to provide proof of vaccination.

STANLEY LEE POW

via e-mail