The cost in vaccines isn't just in getting them. One has to take off work (twice) to get them, have transportation to get them, and be able to handle being potentially stuck in bed for 1-2 days after the second vaccine. I believe the last is probably leading to the most vaccine hesitancy. If I don't have sick leave, worry that I will get fired if I call in and/or have to take care of small children, I will probably keep putting off getting the vaccine hoping to find some more convenient time. Yes, of course, it will be worse if they get covid, but I doubt the calculation is: "I will never get the vaccine and hope I don't get covid". I suspect it is more "I will get the vaccine as soon as I get a chance to have two free days to schedule it"
> Those who are fully vaccinated may be amongst those denied access if they do not have a printer or mobile device, or if they have forgotten their documentation at home. This will especially impact the poor, those who are homeless, those with developmental delays or those who suffer from cognitive impairment.
If you are going out somewhere that would need a covid passport, you're going to need your wallet one way or other. So I think forgetting the paper that should already be in your wallet to be one of the weakest arguments yet.
And if they can afford to go to a place that would need the passport (restaurants, movies, et al) then they probably can also afford one of the 10 cents per page print shops you find all over the place.
So that particular argument doesn't fly. At least "taking time off work" has some merit, but even then you can schedule around it. Over the course of almost a year so far, you must have at least some time in there to do it.
So far in my work place, not one person has had to take time off due to illness from the shot. Sure there are people who do get ill from it, but it's a lot more rare than people make it out to be. Even in my friendship circle, only one person almost had to take time off, but inevitably didn't need to. A sore arm is nothing unless you're a professional bowler or whatever.
That's a great idea. The arguments against both are nearly identical, from my perspective.
There's a big difference in these scenarios, in that the argument FOR vaccine passports is much stronger, in that the vaccines provide some level of herd immunity. There is no evidence that voter fraud is occurring at high rates in the US to have voter ID barriers (the alleged purpose, though not the true one).
Intent also matters. The intent of vaccine passports is to reinforce the importance of herd immunity, to emphasize the legitimacy of the vaccines, and to protect frontline workers. The real intent of Voter ID laws (and voter roll purging, etc) is to disenfranchise. The intent taints the process, even if some of the components are reasonable (more options for valid photo-ID, more rigorous proof-of-residence rules, and more careful record keeping, etc).
What if the arguments being made against each, rather than for, are compared?
Vaccine passports will likely require photo id to ensure you are the person with the vaccination record. If requiring IDs to vote disenfranchises a portion of the population, wouldn't requiring IDs for X have the same effect? In example, what happens to those who cannot get an ID due to immigration status or other reasons?
If vaccines are accessible to poor people leading to more vacinnated populus, why are vaccine passports needed?
I'm not anti-vax but I don't understand why people think vaccines are going to solve everything, isn't covid here to stay? why make it another control measure?
Right now in Ontario 80% of covid cases are coming from non fully vaccinated individuals(1).
It costs $23k to treat a covid patient and $50k if they reach the ICU(2). Chances of not landing in the ICU are 99.9% if you're fully vaccinated(3).
Many health resources are going to treat covid instead of things like elective surgeries. Allowing non-essential businesses to fully open without a vaccine passport will only lead to more cases and more resources being wasted.
The thought of getting injured right now is scary because I could wait years for something like a herniated disc surgery (which is very debilitating). I'd much prefer we take steps to take as much strain off the health system as we can.
> The thought of getting injured right now is scary because I could wait years for something like a herniated disc surgery (which is very debilitating).
And yet how much do you pay year after year for healthcare via taxes?
I'm also from Canada. We pay the same amount despite the fact that we are in mid-pandemic. Therefore resources are allotted to dealing with the large number of Covid cases that end up in ICU.
This isn't a case of being "short changed" with our taxes. This is a case of large groups of people needlessly filling the emergency wards when there are clearer options that are easier on the population as a whole.
The goalposts sure seem to be shifting around Covid. At first it was merely "Flatten the curve" and now we're talking about much larger societal policy decisions, with no clear objective or aim.
Frankly - If the US was a person, I'd say we're having a severe allergic reaction. The response is worse than the disease. On both sides of the political spectrum we're seeing a tendency towards authoritarian controls and in-group/out-group dynamics, and I have a sinking feeling it's not going to end well.
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None of that means you personally shouldn't get vaccinated. I'd strongly suggest it, and wish we'd had a vaccine earlier - I lost both of my grandmothers to covid.
But we've clearly lost touch with how to actually talk with a person you don't agree with - and since neither side has any real discourse with the other, we're reverting to control measures that I don't think are good for democracy.
I imagine any fees/fines/consequences for not having a vaccine passport will be relatively more of a burden for the poor to bear. This same argument has been made for/against requiring voter id laws in the US.