Vaccination — what we must do!
We cannot afford not to
Humanity is in the middle of a hideous pandemic. It has killed millions, cost the world tens of trillion of dollars so far — and completely disrupted livelyhood and social interaction of billions of people. But help is in sight: we have vaccines, highly effective, tried and tested on billions of people, with no severe side effects. For the vaccinated, the risk of catching full-blown covid and being hospitalized is around ten times— of dying at least fifteen times — less likely than among the unvaccinated. So, there is a chance that, in the future, our lives could return to some form of normality. However, only if a substantial majority of people actually get vaccinated. There is very urgent work to be done.
Help people to accept vaccination
The Covid-19 vaccines are very effective, but they need to be taken, and taken widely. Unfortunately, there is a vast campaign of disinformation that has led many people to be sceptical about vaccination. It is possible that a quarter to half of entire national populations will refrain from taking the shot, ensuring that Covid thrives and the world will remain a dangerous place for a long time. Imagine what it would be like if we still had smallpox. Or polio.
Apparently, we cannot force people to undergo an intrusive medical procedure. On this point, regarding Covid-19, the governments of most European countries, and the USA, agree — although, strangely, there is compulsory childhood vaccination for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, rabies, hepatitis, rotavirus... In some places people are actually being paid to get Covid vaccinated, receiving gifts and perks.
But there is a simpler solution. Issue a badge that confirms that you have been vaccinated, that you are immune and not a direct danger to other people. Let people decide with whom they want to interact directly and whom they wish to avoid. If people step back when you address them, if they pull up a mask, it may encourage you to take the step and join the community of pandemic combatants.
Many people have a reflex reaction to this suggestion: isn’t that like the yellow badges that Jews were forced to wear at various times in Medieval times and under the Nazis? No, it isn’t! Nothing could be more different. This is not a badge that you are forced to wear, one that discriminates against you. It is a badge of honour, s medal. You get it after you have received the full vaccination, together with an immunity passport validating it. The badge is an assurance to your fellow citizens. It’s like wearing a badge that says: “I am unarmed — I am not carrying weapons.” That does not discriminate against anyone. Think about it: does saying to someone “I’m vaccinated” represent any kind of discrimination?
Without the vaccination badge you may not be able to enter all restaurants and bars, it might impede international travel. That is acceptable. As a child and young adult, I was not allowed to travel to different countries without proof of smallpox inoculation. A few decades later, the horrible disease had been completely eliminated from the face of the earth. Imagine if there had been groups of people who had refused to take the measures that were mandated. We would still have untold suffering and millions of people dying of smallpox today.
What about forgery? Won’t people simply fake the badge, make copies? Like they do for police badges, driving licenses, currency bills?
No, making fake vaccination badges would be hideously illegal and severely punished. For heaven’s sake: put a hologram on the official badges to make copying very difficult. Use different colours for the vaccine status: green for fully vaccinated, red for boosted, etc.
And include a bar or QR code which can be easily used to validate the badge and vaccination status— and to catch counterfeits.
This is, I believe, the best way to get the world vaccinated. Use peer pressure to convince people.
Other pandemic stories
- Vaccination — what we must do!
- Covid-19 — what we must do, immediately!
- The ups and downs of Covid-19
- Covid-19 — what needs to be done…
- Covid-19, exactly how bad is it?
- What is a virus? Is it even alive?
- The coronavirus, what we can do
- Healing with an unknown force?
- Penicillin — how antibiotics changed the world
- Superbugs — the biggest threat to mankind
