As I See It
Nothing mandatory about vaccinations
If you are so upset about something, you decide to take to the streets to protest, it is a good idea to be certain that what you are protesting against is real. It has happened across the country and across the state, and over the weekend it happened in La Crosse. A small group of protesters stood at a busy intersection waving American flags and holding signs protesting against vaccinations. A number of the signs called for an end to vaccine mandates. But the thing is, there are no vaccine mandates. The federal government has not, nor has any state government, mandated that people get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Still, the signs warned against tyranny, while some compared the so-called mandate to what happened in Nazi Germany, reading “Forced experimental shots happened in Nazi Germany concentration camps.” While some sports arenas and concert venues are requiring people to get vaccinated before attending, most also allow a negative test for entry. And while some employers are mandating their employees be vaccinated, people still have the freedom of choice to no longer work there. No one is holding anyone down and forcing the vaccine into their arm. We do still have freedom of choice, including the choice to join a protest against something that doesn’t exist.
Heather Nokken
August 18, 2021 at 12:33 pm
While some of what you said is accurate, not all of it is. The ramifications of the public and private sector requiring employees to get the covid shots or find another job, will not be known for long time. The shots are still in the “trial” stage and who will take responsibility if it turns out there is long-term consequences for some people? Not the pharmaceutical companies, they haven’t been responsible for how their vaccines affect people since the 1980s. Just because the people didn’t phrase their statements on their signs “correctly” doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason to be concerned. My doctor said that covid will end up being just like the flu – every year they will have a cocktail of the different variants that will be in the yearly shot, and people don’t go around asking if you got a flu shot. Even if everyone got the shots, covid will not go away and it will be in the mix of cold, flu and other viruses that we all live with.