For the Greater Good

In 2015, California governor Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill 277 into law. The bill eliminated “the exemption from existing specified immunization requirements based upon personal beliefs, but would allow exemption from future immunization requirements deemed appropriate by the State Department of Public Health for either medical reasons or personal beliefs.” Anti-vax contingents challenged the bill, and Dr. Bob Sears compared the mandate to Jews and the Holocaust. This comparison continues today, now with the COVID vaccine, and Talia Bracha Lavin and others point out the absurdity and cognitive disconnect inherent within such comparisons.

While I have not encountered, in my personal circles, individuals comparing the vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, I have encountered individuals who refuse to get the vaccination because they feel that the government should not mandate whether or not individuals should get vaccinated. When I went to school, I had to receive certain vaccinations to attend. When I went to college, I had to provide proof of vaccination. When I traveled to other countries, I had to have my vaccines up to date. Individuals traveling to the United States have to provide proof of COVID vaccination, yet citizens don’t have to provide anything. In fact, legal precedent points to the state’s ability to require individuals to get vaccinated.