>This, IMO, plays into one of the most insidious problems with
>the antivax movement overall, and the Covid vaccine
>specifically, which is the idea that this is a personal
>decision analogous to the rest of that list.
>
>Smoking makes at least some sense, but the broader
>ramifications are significantly different. If you smoke and I
>get lung cancer, I can't spread that lung cancer, unless I
>smoke myself.
>
>But I get Covid from you, not only are the potential
>consequences myriad, it's contagious, and that has far greater
>potential to set off a much larger destructive chain.

Again - the smoking analogy wasn't meant to be a perfect analogy. It was made to demonstrate that it's another personal choice that can (and does) wreak havoc on others around you (whereby thousands of non-smokers die of second-hand lung cancer every year).

The problem with your logic here is that you're excluding the fact that vaccinated people are also driving a lot of transmission - so it's not as if you get vaccinated you're all of a sudden exempt from contributing to the pandemic and not a part of the problem, per se. While it's true that you're less likely to get an initial infection if vaccinated (though not to the degree as it was originally purported) and it's also true that a vaccinated body clears the virus sooner (creating a shorter window of transmission) - vaccinated (and even boosted) hosts are still getting infected and transmitting the virus at significant rates.

But if you're vaccinated - it's exceptionally rare for you to die and/or develop severe disease that leads to hospitalization. So in this regard, the unvaccinated are actually sharing the overwhelming brunt and burden of their choices here (just as smokers do despite the fact that they still wreak havoc to those around them).

>The fact is, there's a limit to liberty. There's a reason our
>children are mandated to be vaccinated to go to a public
>school, but there is no mandatory diet, no mandate that the
>children's parent's don't smoke, etc. Kid A can't "catch"
>those other things from a classmate and spread it to others.

Agreed. While I do think that mandates present serious constitutional (and civil liberty) issues - those who often talk about personal liberty and "My body my choice" (while incidentally denying a woman's right to an abortion) refuse to accept the fact that there are responsibilities that come with liberties.


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