Editors at National Review Online urge officials to avoid making a mistake inspired by government’s botched response to COVID-19.
Public-health officials were wrong to oversell the benefits of the Covid vaccine and then push for sweeping mandates based on their exuberant claims. But it would be a mistake to use those failures as a pretext to abolish vaccination requirements that have helped nearly eradicate dangerous diseases.
Unfortunately, in Florida, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has announced that the state would move to entirely eliminate vaccine requirements from public and private schools — not just rethink some or loosen up on the schedule, which is reasonable enough to consider, but scrap all of them on principle. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” he said. He asked, “Who am I as a government or anyone else, who am I as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body?”
Any changes to the Florida vaccination protocol would require legislative action. But with RFK Jr.’s rejiggered panel on vaccines expected to announce changes to current recommendations, a push by one of the largest, most influential, and best-governed Republican states to scrap all mandates could start a trend.
The question of whether or not to require a vaccination against a dangerous, potentially widespread disease is not a simple question of individual liberty, because it’s a choice that inevitably involves the welfare of others.
Despite the early sales pitches, Covid vaccines turned out not to be effective at preventing infection or transmission. Their major benefit has been to reduce the severity of the illness for higher-risk populations. This is why we oppose mandating vaccination for Covid and support leaving the choice up to individuals.
The MMR vaccine is a different case. The recommended two doses of MMR are 97 percent effective at preventing measles and rubella and 86 percent effective against mumps. They make transmission much less likely. This is affirmed by historical numbers.
