Vaccination is political

I agree with the call ( Help keep Lily safe: Mum’s plea to the unvaccinated, Oct 25) from a mother whose daughter has a heart condition. But I disagree with her in that this is a political debate.

A political decision is where groups of people make decisions so they can live together in a society. The debate about being vaccinated against Covid-19 or not is therefore political.

How then do we consider the common good of all against the individual’s right to choose? Fundamental questions to any society, group, family living together in a shared space.

These choices are hard, but they must at least be based on the best, most reliable facts we have at hand.

For us all to make an informed choice about the right of the unvaccinated as opposed to the vaccinated person’s right to congregate safely, in public spaces, the anti-vaxxers need to bring indisputable evidence to their argument.

We have health experts telling us that the vaccine is our best defence and we have history that shows the development of vaccines has eradicated many lifethreatening diseases.

I agree that there are risks with vaccines, for some, but there is no evidence that the risks from this vaccine, if any, outweigh the risks associated with catching the Covid virus, to individuals and society, as a whole.

Teresa Homan, Upper Hutt [abridged]