Germany bans unvaccinated people from most aspects of life.

 

Angela Merkel. USA Today.

German has banned unvaccinated people from most aspects of life while parliament will consider a universal vaccine mandate. USA Today. The unvaccinated will not be able to shop for anything other than essentials or attend events. Outgoing Chancellor says the measures are necessary due to high rates of Coronavirus infection. This is despite the fact that 68.7% of Germans are already vaccinated. There have already been major protests against Germany's Coronavirus restrictions. Germany has gone so far as to ban fireworks in response to the virus. 

My Comment:

It is not surprising that outgoing German chancellor Angela Merkel would make this move. I have never liked her and consider her Germany's 2nd worst chancellor, and to be honest, it's pretty close. Her actions have been terrible and though I don't expect the new one to be any better, I am glad to see her gone. 

This action is, quite frankly, utterly insane. We proved in 2020 that lockdowns do nothing to stop the virus. And we proved in 2021 that neither do our current batch of vaccines. Indeed, I don't think much of anything will stop the virus at this point other than natural immunity. Vaccines might do something to make the virus less severe, but it won't stop the spread. 

So this action is not going to do anything to stop the virus. It will do massive damage to the German economy. With about 30% of people unvaccinated you will probably see a decent chunk of the economy shut down. Anyone that is a venue or a normal shop will lose customers. 

And the ethical problem should be obvious. Keeping people from participating in the economy because they haven't taken a shot? That's evil. Period. You don't treat people like that unless you are a despot. People should not be othered like this.  

And I also don't think this will convince many people to get vaccinated (which, again, won't stop the virus). People have largely made up their minds about getting the vaccine or not and locking them in their homes won't change their minds. Hell, threatening their lives directly with armed goods who will shoot to kill still won't change every mind. 

I also don't understand how they can make vaccines mandatory. I am no expert on German laws, but these vaccines do have major side effects and some people can die because of them. It makes no sense to vaccinate everyone because some people simply can't take vaccines and even many that can isn't worth the risk. Children especially are basically immune to the virus and they are going to make them take it as well? 

I have said for a long time that taking the Coronavirus vaccine is a personal choice. For some people it's absolutely worth it. I took it myself, though I won't be taking the booster. If you are old, overweight, have some kind of medical condition, or even are just more worried than usual, it's probably worth it. But if you are young and in good shape? It's perfectly valid to say that no, you don't want to do it. 

I also don't buy the argument that people have a duty to get vaccinated. That wouldn't be true even if the virus was way more dangerous than it actually is. But even if you cede the argument, it's still rings hollow as these vaccines don't stop the spread of the virus. Sure, you could "kill grandma" if you are unvaccinated and infect someone, but the same happens regardless of the virus. It's a stupid argument. 

I do think that people deserve the governments they elect and Germany is no exception. But I worry that Biden will look at what Germany is doing and decide to try that here. I don't think he can but he has never let a little think like laws and the constitution to actually stop him from doing things. His announcements today were pretty anemic, but I do think that he would love to do this out of pure spite...