David Quinn
Photo: Vatican Media Handout We look to our own Government to protect us, and if they fail, then we understandably turn on them, writes David Quinn
It is not at all clear at this stage when those who want to receive a Covid-19 vaccination will get their wish. It is to be hoped that everyone over the age of 70 will have received at least one of their two doses by the end of March, but we can’t be sure about that.
It was hoped that by September, 70% of the adult population across the European Union (EU) would be vaccinated, but we don’t know if that target will be met. At the current rate, it won’t, but perhaps vaccine production and roll-out will step up enormously in the months ahead.
It may only be the case that you won’t develop symptoms if you do get sick, not that you won’t be infectious”
Even if it is does, there will be people who won’t want to be vaccinated. Some individuals are basically against all vaccinations in principle, while others will be concerned that the new Covid-19 vaccines are too unproven. They are worried that normal safety checks have not taken place.
Speaking personally, I will take the vaccine when my turn comes. I am not in a high-risk category, fortunately, but I don’t want to be a burden on the system if I end up in hospital with a bad dose of coronavirus and I don’t want to pass it on to anyone else, even though it is not yet completely clear that being vaccinated means you can’t infect someone else.
It may only be the case that you won’t develop symptoms if you do get sick, not that you won’t be infectious.
We’ll find out soon enough what the truth of the matter is as more and more people receive their vaccinations. Hopefully, it will protect us against symptoms, and protect everyone around us from getting sick even if we are asymptomatic.
Side-effects
Again, speaking personally, I believe those experts who say the vaccines are safe. All vaccines carry a risk of side-effects, but the ones arising from Covid-19, such as a few aches and pains afterwards, seem minor and passing in the vast majority of cases.
Therefore, I think the benefits of being vaccinated outweigh the risks, especially if you are in a vulnerable group.
If you are young, then you might, of course, come to a different risk-benefit conclusion.
In early December, the hierarchy issued a statement on the vaccines. It said in part: “The Catholic Church recognises that safe and effective vaccination is an essential aspect of the prevention of disease. We are encouraging Catholics to support a programme of vaccination, not only for their own good, but for the protection of life and the health of those who are vulnerable and for the common good of humanity.”
In other words, our bishops do not believe that a decision to take a vaccine is a purely individual one because anything we do, or fail to do, has societal implications as well. We are to love our neighbours as well as ourselves. What is our obligation to our neighbours under these circumstances?
The EU did, and the EU was also much slower than those other countries to approve the vaccine or sign contracts with the vaccine companies”
Asserting such an obligation, or at least consideration, is emphatically not the same, however, as saying we should be legally compelled to be vaccinated. That would be an unacceptable imposition on our freedom of conscience and not justified by arguments about public health or the common good.
Fortunately, there are very few suggestions that it be made compulsory, although it could still happen by the backdoor, for instance if enough companies, such as airlines, deny you access to their services without proof you have been vaccinated. In other words, you might not be allowed to board a plane without a ‘Vaccination Passport’, so to speak.
At present, some countries are far ahead of us, or any other EU member-state, in vaccinating their populations. As at a few days ago, the EU average was about 3%. Ireland was on about 3.5%. But America had reached around 10%, Britain 14%, and the world-leader, Israel, had vaccinated about half its population, an amazing achievement.
Vaccine companies
How have they managed to do that? In the case of Israel, they didn’t haggle over price. It was the same in Britain and America. The EU did, and the EU was also much slower than those other countries to approve the vaccine or sign contracts with the vaccine companies. The result is that they dropped down the queue, which is very serious when supplies are currently limited.
There is another way to look at this, of course. Should there be competition for vaccines at all? Perhaps the likes of the World Health Organisation (WHO) should purchase them on behalf of the whole planet and then release them as they become available in proportion to each country’s population size?
That would mean Europeans or Americans would not receive more per head of population than the likes of Nigeria or India. If that meant 20% of the whole world’s population is vaccinated by next autumn, rather than 70% in the West, but only 10% elsewhere, then so be it. Fairness would demand such a result. Or would it?
It’s a complex question. We would almost all readily accept that a parent’s duty to look after their own children is greater than their duty (although it exists) to look after other children. If vital medicines were in short supply, and your children were sick, how would they feel if you give those supplies to the house next door? Or how would your wife (or husband) feel if they were ill, but you gave the medicines to the adults next door?
If it offers us some of its surplus vaccines, should we accept them, or have we a greater duty to maintain solidarity with the rest of the EU? I believe firmly that we should accept them”
They would almost certainly believe you had failed in their duty to protect them. Similarly, we look to our own Governments to protect us, and if they fail, then we understandably turn on them.
At the same time, the West has a duty to use its abundant resources to buy as many vaccines as soon as it can and supply them for free to poorer nations as early as possible, while not neglecting their duties to their own people.
A final question; Britain has ordered more vaccines than it needs. If it offers us some of its surplus vaccines, should we accept them, or have we a greater duty to maintain solidarity with the rest of the EU? I believe firmly that we should accept them.