To the editor:
In 1919 the Volstead Act was passed, which was a nationwide mandate to make the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal. It failed, and was repealed. We still, nonetheless, have …
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To the editor:
In 1919 the Volstead Act was passed, which was a nationwide mandate to make the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal. It failed, and was repealed. We still, nonetheless, have laws that restrict the use of alcohol; for example, people are not allowed to drive on public roads while intoxicated. These are not mandates — we are all free to make a choice to drink, we are however, prohibited from imposing the risks of that choice on the public.
It is, at best, unfortunate that there is a widespread, mistaken idea that getting a Covid vaccine is a mandate. It is not a mandate, it is a choice, plain and simple. No one is attempting to force anyone be vaccinated. It is however, reasonable to insist that if you decide to avoid being vaccinated that you be prevented from imposing the risks of that decision on the public.
The argument that there is not enough known about the vaccine might have had some validity last February. With the experience of 100-plus million vaccines that have been administered, plus the overwhelming statistics that unvaccinated people greatly increase the risk both to their own lives and the people they come in contact with, arguments against vaccination are becoming increasingly untenable.
Bob Rottmann
Little Compton