Vaccination debate is not about freedom

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 (20:00)

Sie sind so frei by Wolfgang Thierse (2021-12-02): “Angesichts der dramatischen Zuspitzung der Corona-Pandemie wird wieder über eine Impfpflicht debattiert. Verweigerer pochen auf ihr Recht auf Selbstbestimmung. Doch welcher Freiheitsbegriff offenbart sich darin? Ein Debattenbeitrag von Wolfgang Thierse.”

My reply:

Wolfgang Thierse’s contribution to the debate confirms my decision to stay unvaccinated. His message is clear: refusing to get vaccinated means to him that you value your own freedom more than the health of other people.

But his reasoning is based on the double “doctrine” that (1) the Covid pandemic is our main problem and (2) that vaccination is the best and only way for us to fix it. Regarding (1) just some numbers (from https://www.worldometers.info): the Covid pandemic has caused 5 millons of deaths so far. But 8 million deaths were caused by hunger this year, 7,8 by cancer, 4,7 by smoking, 2,3 by alcohol, 1,6 by HIV/AIDS, 1 by suicide. And I didn’t find easy numbers about how many deaths were caused by wars. And then dying isn’t necessarily the biggest problem: 500 million people have lost all or most of their welfare as a side effect of the pandemic. Regarding (2) I have no numbers, only my feeling that the Covid campaigns talk too much about getting vaccinated and too little about changing to a healthier life style. Oh no, the pandemic is not our problem, it is just a symptom. Our problem is the Mammon, our belief that we need in ever-growing activity. Getting the pandemic under control won’t help as long as the greedy giants remain out of control.

No, I won’t get vaccinated by my free will as long as the vaccination campaign helps greedy giants to get even more power over governments and corporations who care for the poorest.

Of course this is just what I believe and I respect if you believe something else. But as long as there are people debating in a controversial question, governments should be careful with the temptation of forcing any decision.

Edit: Two days after writing this I realized Are unvaccinated people dangerous?. Which might change my mind.