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A lot of people look at the implacable and irrational unpersuadability of antivaxxers and kinda conclude "ah there's nothing we can do except let them win" instead of the correct conclusion that we need to force them to get their kids vaccinated against their parents' will
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We had a test of this theory during COVID and among the groups that actually were forced to get vaccinated, most "reluctant" people just got the shot with only a few holdouts. Didn't even take a very big stick in a lot of cases!
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Democrats control a lot of state legislatures! bsky.app/profile/thew...
I want to achieve that, but I think those victories are going to be hard to get with legislatures
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That's true, but it's not unanimous even among Dems, and they don't like doing things that will get people mad at you even if they're good and popular.
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I also don't love using police and CPS more
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What police and CPS? If your kids aren't jabbed, kick them out of school
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That’s a different form of enforcement, because it remains possible to not vaccinate your kids
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It's a known-good solution that worked for decades; your kids have to be vaccinated to register for school.
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So you’re not wrong—this enforcement isn’t airtight—but it is overwhelmingly effective. Most people’s anti-vaccination stances crumble in the face of any real hurdles. Some small percentage of very committed people will homeschool, yes, but it still addresses anti-vaxxers as a public health crisis.
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I'm not sure I understand the objection. Isn't the goal to prevent transmission at daycares & schools? If they're not there, mission accomplished.
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Just do it at school and damn parental permissions.
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So what? Possible ≠ likely. Simply passing a law requiring it, or even local schoolboard policy, will get most to comply without further enforcement. Especially in public health, that's a huge win. You don't need 100% compliance for significant improvement.
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Cool, now they're forced into homeschooling where their abuse will just become worse
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But they can't infect other kids
They would not view that as a punishment and the homeschooling ppulation would explode
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This is just not true. Multiple states (New York California and Maine) have closed loopholes for school and vaccination and anti-vax types screamed absolutely bloody murder each time. If you would like to point to any studies that show an increase in homeschooling due to vax policies share.
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True. :/ so what’s the solution?
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The GOP loves doing things that are wildly unpopular and make people mad.
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We now live in a right wing world as far as covid. They won every one of their battles.
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Except with COVID itself, which killed them off at a rate significantly higher than their leftier peers.
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It killed people in zip codes. Do you think the people in red zip codes are all right wing, or do you think the poor people working for rich whites suffered more in those zip codes. Covid killed non whites.
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We tell ourselves things to make ourselves feel okay for the horrors we inflict on other less fortunate people.
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Nobody "inflicted" the horror of COVID on them, it's a disease. And vaccination is an individual decision, what the heck are you one about? No wonder you think the right wing won every battle 🙄 Didn't mean to engage Doomer bait.
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Yes, I'm aware. I'm also aware of those epidemiologist sociologists who broke down why it's bullshit, which is why I posted what i did.
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Covid killed many MAGA. Had to step away from my usual job because the demand was so high on the COVID units and saw it first-hand. Most of the deaths after the vaccines came out were from those refusing vaccines. I also volunteered at free vaccine clinics and they were given in every neighborhood.
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Not even worth debating, tbh. If it makes you feel better, have at it
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You really think it was checking voter registration and not income? Bullshit to make you feel better
Not true.. at all We only have 23 Dem Governors to their 27 and on the verge of losing 3 more if people do not step up. Vote Democrat in local elections or lose your Rights. And your childrens rights.
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“But that could cause a mean segment on Fox or a whiny letter from a CEO—and I think we can all agree that’s a lot worse than any deadly and disabling pandemic.”
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I live in Ann Arbor, MI which is and has long been the most heavily Democratic area in a formerly red turning purple state. The A2 school district has a lower rate of all kids up to date on vaccines than the city of Detroit school system, and has had since at least 2008.
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mandates work! the problem is mostly that the handful of people who hold out are *incredibly* loud about it and disproportionately concentrated in the powerful and influential
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i work at a government contractor with like 1800 employees and when they said "get the jab or get out" only like three people chose to retire
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Still amazes me
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this is an amazing graph
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Proof the vaccine straight up works
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And the gap kept growing. The reddest counties were already disproportionately older as well; their refusal to vax only accelerated the die-off. This may turn out to be the single biggest contributing factor to a proper blue wave in 2024, and one the media barely mentions.
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Just imagine this graph if vaccine uptake among seniors (who tend to skew conservative) had not been 95%.
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It's not as granular but as shocking. Life expectancy by state in 2020 (the latest year from CDC, 2019 is similar, but naturally different). 9 of the top 10 are blue (UT is 9th), 9 of the bottom 10 are red (NM is 42nd). Top 3 states (HI, WA, MN) outlived the bottom 3 (MS, WV, LA) by 6-7.8 years!
Life Expectancy at Birth by State Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC twenty four seven. Saving Lives, Protecting PeopleMinusSASstatswww.cdc.gov National Center for Health Statistics
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Owning the libs by dying early
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Exactly 🤣 There are many contributing factors. More car fatalities, mostly DUI related. More gun fatalities. Less vaxination. Poor nutrition. Smoking. The high rate of no seat-belt deaths in red states is fun. This darwin-aproved demise hurts only the freedom-lover who freed us from their presence.
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And as I recall, nearly all of the high profile cases of "I lost my job because I wouldn't get the jab! Fascism!" was either: - person was quitting anyway - person was deeply unqualified for their job - person was insane because they worked IN FUCKING HEALTHCARE.
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It's a great way to fire people who are problematic in myriad other ways but haven't tripped over any "Just Cause" violations
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It would be nice if we didn't have all our institutions believing the Supreme Court can command us to live by the standards of something between an 8th century medieval Christian fiefdom and a 1904 southern racist milltown. Otherwise public health as an institution will simply continue to vanish.
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SCOTUS has been consistent on enforcing laws regarding vaccination and masking, is the thing
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We were moving this way before COVID. States were removing all but medical exceptions to vaccinations. Public health should be enforced. Don't want to "obey"? Stay home.
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I think the only group this tactic didn’t work great on was cops