Vaccinations?

There’s been a lot in the media about “compelling” people to be vaccinated against Covid.   Both of us are fully vaccinated, and I can see the need to get as many people vaccinated as possible – otherwise there doesn’t seem a way out of this covid issue (at least, a perceived way out).   Just the same, deep down I have reservations about making vaccinations “compulsory”.

It is true, that in order for our society to function, we each must accept constraints on the way we live.  We have to hold a licence to drive a car and we’ve accepted that people with covid shouldn’t be out-&-about in the community.    Hence, although it’s a balancing act and yet another incremental step, in the circumstances perhaps we must accept the need for vaccinations in order to do certain things – but only for as long as it’s necessary.  And it ought not to be taken as a precedent for further incursions into our lives in the future.

But to put these comments into perspective, I received an email from Air New Zealand.  Yes, AirNZ too are going to require vaccinations as a condition of travel – but the directive states —

“… from 1 February next year, we’ll be asking all international travellers aged 18 and over, arriving or departing Aotearoa, to be fully vaccinated before they board our aircraft.”

From next February?   I wonder if this is because they don’t think there will be any flights until then, or whether the requirement won’t be enforced until then?  Either way, it seems that there’s a country in the world that’s even further behind things than Australia!  Ooops, forgot about Western Australia!