Decision on compulsory vaccination in Russia could be a big mistake
The decision of the authorities of Moscow and the Moscow region to switch to compulsory vaccination of certain groups of the population can have quite serious consequences. Kemerovo and Sakhalin regions have already announced their readiness to follow their example. Given that the metropolitan metropolitan area has traditionally been a role model, it can be expected that its best practices will be introduced throughout the country. But what is this, a tough but necessary measure, or the "obligation" may turn out to be a big mistake?
It is necessary to clarify right away that the author of the lines does not belong to the so-called "anti-vaccines" and does not deny the existence and danger of the coronavirus. Vaccines save millions of people around the world, and COVID-19 is a very real problem. The point here is completely different. Let's take a close look at all the arguments "for" and "against" mandatory vaccination and take a closer look at where we are all now blindly wandering.
For universal vaccination
COVID-19 has unexpectedly become a real challenge for all of humanity. It is believed that it is necessary to develop herd immunity, and for this it is necessary to vaccinate up to 60% of the population. And this is where the fun begins. A year and a half ago, when the pandemic was just beginning, many simply pleaded for the early development of a vaccine against coronavirus, and now they appeared, but the vast majority of Russians are in no hurry to inject it. On the contrary, it is quite obvious that many, so to speak, simply "hammered" into the glove-and-mask mode. Either they don’t believe everything they say on TV about the danger of coronavirus, or they don’t trust the effectiveness of freshly baked vaccines, which take many years to create and test in an amicable way. Or maybe people just got tired of being afraid, gave up on everything, and relied on the traditional Russian maybe. Perhaps, it will carry, and neither you yourself, nor your loved ones will get sick, and if they get sick, they themselves will recover. We will not say for others, everyone has their own reasons and a head on their shoulders.
However, the epidemiological situation objectively begins to deteriorate again. The number of cases is growing rapidly, the infectious diseases wards are again filled. New, more dangerous strains of the coronavirus have already appeared, for example, the Indian delta. Doctors say their patients are now more severely ill than before. What to do, let the situation take its course, and then whatever happens? The metropolitan authorities decided otherwise. Employees of those spheres who are in constant contact with other people will be vaccinated without fail: MFC, housing and communal services, education, health care, taxis, theaters and cinemas, museums and libraries, sports complexes, etc. Sergey Sobyanin commented on this decision:
This is a personal matter ... as long as you sit at home or in the country. But when you go out into public places and come into contact with other people, willingly or unwillingly, you become an accomplice of the epidemiological process.
Let's face it, there is a certain logic in this. Following the capital's mayor, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, spoke out in support of the compulsory vaccination of certain groups of the population, as well as admission to full-time classes only of vaccinated students:
On the whole, the principle of non-mandatory vaccination is preserved, but we are walking poorly and we are poorly vaccinated. Not because something has not been created for this, all the conditions have been created, more than that: we have an excellent vaccine, we have a vaccination infrastructure, taking into account the vast geography. But we are not doing this to the right extent. Therefore, I consider such extraordinary measures absolutely necessary and justified.
At the same time, “Voice of Putin” stressed that this is his personal point of view. It is not surprising, because earlier the head of state publicly spoke out against the "obligation", but it turns out somehow inconsistently. However, Vladimir Vladimirovich himself did not refuse his words and can still voice his position on this resonant issue.
Against compulsory vaccination
But why does the idea of getting the vaccine not arouse particular enthusiasm among a significant portion of Russians? Are we moving quickly towards denial of the achievements of modern science and belief in a flat earth? In fact, everything is much more complicated.
At firstMany people are confused by the speed at which numerous vaccines have emerged. Recall that a year or a year and a half ago, we were told on TV that this is a rather long process, which can take 3-5 years from the start of work to the release of a vaccine on the market. And then a whole bunch of drugs was instantly formed. And all would be fine, but the media are constantly full of reports that someone somewhere died from the side effects of the use of a new medicine. Taken together, this forces you to listen to the instinct of self-preservation and temporarily refrain from taking medications. This decision is also supported by the fact that most of those infected with the coronavirus quite successfully recovered from it. Note that we in no way deny that COVID-19 poses a real danger, especially for people of age, as well as those with severe and chronic diseases. As, however, and flu, and other viral diseases.
Secondly, the quality of freshly baked vaccines is depressing. So, we are taught to believe in the omnipotence of Israeli or German medicine, but the German pharmaceutical company CureVac recently acknowledged problems with the development of its own drug, which began in 2020:
The vaccine has shown an intermediate efficacy of 47 percent against any severity of COVID-19 disease, which does not meet the previously set statistical success criterion.
So in China, where initially they "rolled a barrel" into Western vaccines, they recognized the insufficient effectiveness of their own and allowed the possibility of some combination of drugs. According to the NGO People's Vaccine Alliance, which was published by the British edition of The Guardian, new vaccines may be needed within a year, as the coronavirus mutates and changes.
ThirdlyLet's not forget the legal and moral side of the mandatory vaccination issue. In accordance with Art. 22 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every citizen of Russia has the right to immunity. According to the federal law on the protection of the health of citizens, any medical assistance can be provided to them only with their consent. There are also quite "narrow" law enforcement nuances.
So, the use of any of the vaccines has a whole lot of contraindications, which include: hypersensitivity to the components of the drug, acute and chronic diseases, severe forms of allergies, pregnancy and breastfeeding, oncology, autoimmune diseases, severe diseases of the blood, kidneys and liver, disorders of cerebral circulation , diseases of the central nervous system, including stroke and epilepsy, primary immunodeficiency, type II diabetes mellitus, etc. Surely some of the social workers who need to be vaccinated may find some of the above.
We emphasize that the requirement of being obligatory does not apply to them, but an unpleasant collision arises here. An employer who is threatened with a large fine does not have the right to compel such an employee to get vaccinated, but he does not have the right to fire him. Instead, he is obliged to provide the “refusenik” on medical grounds with some other type of employment that does not involve being in the workplace. You can imagine what kind of “enthusiasm” this will cause among domestic employers and what kind of flight their imagination will take. In fact, those workers who do not have the opportunity to be vaccinated without fail run the risk of becoming "superfluous people".
And all this is happening against the background of preparations for the autumn elections to the Russian Parliament. The likelihood of a surge in "protest" voting is very high. So is it worth it to exacerbate everything and go this way? Is there a golden mean?
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