If you’re like me, then you’re probably sick of vaccine discourse, but I think the ongoing Kyrie Irving saga is a helpful prism for thinking about the problems of vaccines and vaccine mandates, for a few different reasons:
Your points are well-taken, but in your view, can we be critical of Irving for making a decision that puts other people's health and lives in danger? You kinda, sorta hint at that while criticizing "individualism run amok" but don't say so expressly.
Similarly, I think the term "selfish" is thrown around a lot to describe the conduct of folks who choose not to get vaxxed because they are doing despite the obvious potential for serious harm to others. "Reckless" might be a better term.
I think it's perfectly fair to be critical of a decision that puts other people's health at risk, but I would urge people to keep things in perspective. The risk presented by one unvaccinated person is not very high, and could be mitigated further by a stricter testing requirement. To put it in perspective, Irving was not only allowed but encouraged to to play last year, and the situation has only gotten safer, with rates comparatively lower and vaccination rates among other players over 90%. He was putting far more people in danger then than he would be now. It's still comparatively selfish of him not to comply, since he's sort of freeloading on the vax status of others, but I don't see how it can be "reckless" to do something that would be safer than him doing the exact same thing he did last year.
Your points are well-taken, but in your view, can we be critical of Irving for making a decision that puts other people's health and lives in danger? You kinda, sorta hint at that while criticizing "individualism run amok" but don't say so expressly.
Similarly, I think the term "selfish" is thrown around a lot to describe the conduct of folks who choose not to get vaxxed because they are doing despite the obvious potential for serious harm to others. "Reckless" might be a better term.
I think it's perfectly fair to be critical of a decision that puts other people's health at risk, but I would urge people to keep things in perspective. The risk presented by one unvaccinated person is not very high, and could be mitigated further by a stricter testing requirement. To put it in perspective, Irving was not only allowed but encouraged to to play last year, and the situation has only gotten safer, with rates comparatively lower and vaccination rates among other players over 90%. He was putting far more people in danger then than he would be now. It's still comparatively selfish of him not to comply, since he's sort of freeloading on the vax status of others, but I don't see how it can be "reckless" to do something that would be safer than him doing the exact same thing he did last year.