If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
> 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.
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.
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).
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?
But then again, some states are experimenting with digital IDs on your phone also (so you don't have to carry around your DL anymore).
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.
1 - https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-logs-600-new-covid-19-cas...
2 - https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cihi-covid19-canada-hospital-...
3 - https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/31/health/fully-vaccinated-peopl...
And yet how much do you pay year after year for healthcare via taxes?
11.5% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). $265.5 billion, or $ 7064 per person. Imagine that will go up with covid...
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.