Let me start by addressing the philosophical dilemma of the anti-vaxxer’s “freedom to choose”.
The need to maintain individual freedoms is the most important mandate of the modern liberal state.
Today’s liberal democratic understanding of freedom (with acceptable restraint) was an idea first conceived over 200 years ago. In political philosophy, Jeremy Bentham’s (1789) Utilitarianism suggests that policies should be created to provide the greatest amount of felicity (or happiness) for the largest portion of society.
This forms the crux of the conversation surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations.
Presently, it is understood that for the sake of public health and the “common good”, all citizens should take one of the certified COVID-19 vaccinations. The reason for this is that it will create a greater nett freedom for everyone in that given society.
The alternative is absolute and unrestrained freedom not to vaccinate, which puts pressure on our common freedoms and could prolong lockdown measures.
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