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Covid

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Original poster

Will having the COVID vaccine become mandatory

135 replies

yarncakes · 30/01/2021 07:56

I am not having it done as it is my choice. I'm not going to treated like a guinea pig until I know the long term effects of it. But I've been reading here and there that most countries are going to make it mandatory so if you want to travel there, you have to prove you've had the vaccine. Also jobs as well, especially NHS and care homes, you have to have it done. My boss is funny with me because I am refusing to have it but again, it's my body and my choice but I'm just worried I will be forced to have it against my will if it means living my life normally again.

OP posts:

Beaniecats · 30/01/2021 07:59

Might not be mandatory as such but a requirement for travel, and for some occupation

Mousehole10 · 30/01/2021 08:07

It will likely become mandatory for certain things like travel. So it won’t be mandatory for you to have it but it will be mandatory if you want to do certain things. That will be your choice.

davidsSchitt · 30/01/2021 08:20

"I'm not going to treated like a guinea pig"

your boss is looking at you funny because you're talking bollocks like this!

Cornettoninja · 30/01/2021 08:23

I suspect any ‘mandatory’ requirements like ones for travel will be relatively short lived (maybe a couple of years?) until vaccinations are more widespread and the situation as a whole is more under control. If your working situation is one that exposes you and the people you work with then it might become a requirement but that’s true of many jobs and still isn’t compulsory as far as I’m aware but is highly recommended (stuff like hepatitis, MMR etc.). There has to be provision for people who genuinely can’t have the vaccine as well as people who chose not to.

I think there’s a pretty good uptake and reception to the vaccines so coming across people who don’t want it is surprising but if that’s your choice then you need to remain firm but polite and remind them you don’t have to justify yourself to them in not having it. You do need to understand that your refusal will be incomprehensible to those who see this as a marvellous step in reducing covid infections. I wouldn’t get into a debate about it in a professional setting.

All that said, I’d have it in a heartbeat!

midgedude · 30/01/2021 08:23

The world moves on

Some vaccinations have long been required for some travel

It's your choice

SeahorseoramI · 30/01/2021 08:27

Your boss probably thought up until saying you're not a guinea pig, that you were smarter than that.

Anyway, like many other vaccines, it could end up being compulsory for travel to certain countries or on airlines. Most probably this year, but who knows for how long? We actually saw a holiday advert from one of the big companies that said ‘jab and go’ for this summer.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 30/01/2021 08:27

Following your argument, if you are refusing to have it on the basis that you want others to test it for you first, it doesn't sound like a very nice way to treat your fellow humans who are effectively acting as guinea pigs for you.

After a certain time you might not even be able to get it anyway.

With the hpv jag, you can only get it at a certain age and then the opportunity is gone.

With this, it's a scheme to inoculate as many people as possible as quickly as possible because we are in the middle of a pandemic. They might stop offering it after a certain point.

Also, what you're describing isn't the same as something being mandatory.

People can record problems with the vaccines. With the Pfizer one, nothing life threatening has been recorded (the only one I read up on as it's the one they have here).

Cornettoninja · 30/01/2021 08:28

it's my body and my choice but I'm just worried I will be forced to have it against my will if it means living my life normally again

Just to pick up on this - it will always be your choice. If choosing not to vaccinate means something is off limits to you then you make a choice to forgo the vaccine or whatever that something is. Deciding you want to do that something and will therefore have the vaccine isn’t being forced when you have the option to not do it.

KeepWashingThoseHands · 30/01/2021 08:29

It’s your choice. All choices come with consequences.

Maybe stop saying things like ‘guinea pigs’ though.

There loads of new cancer treatments on the market. I wonder how many people would say they don’t want them as don’t know what the longer term side effects are. Interesting what people view as acceptable risk.

starfish4 · 30/01/2021 08:33

I don't think it'll be mandatory for everyone to have it, but certainly for travel. If not enough have the vaccine and it's still causing sufficient problems in terms of transmission you might get certain work places or other facilities make it mandatory. I think you'll find in the short term (next couple of years) you might have friends or family who will only see people safely (ie outside) if they haven't had the vaccine.

Mousehole10 · 30/01/2021 08:38

Would you be happy if everyone thought like you and we live with restrictions for much longer?

Crosstrainer · 30/01/2021 08:40

So it won’t be mandatory for you to have it but it will be mandatory if you want to do certain things. That will be your choice.

Absolutely this. No one will force a needle into your arm, but you may not be able to do certain things as a result.

KihoBebiluPute · 30/01/2021 08:41

It's not "mandatory" but neither is it mandatory to employ or provide services to or allow into another country someone who doesn't choose to take such a basic and easy step towards the corporate process of ending the pandemic. It can only end if everyone does their bit.

I wouldn't employ someone who thought that taking a vaccine which has passed all stages of rigorous trials and been fully assessed and approved as being safe and effective was "being treated like a Guinea Pig" . Because that's idiotic and I don't like employing idiots.

The people who volunteered for those trials (like my DH) were "treated like Guinea Pigs" (though the candidate vaccine had already pass a stage of being tested on animals first, and then on a very small scale trial of humans, before it got to his stage of the trials.) That volunteering to give the scientists the data to be able to prove the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine is sufficient for it to be approved has saved millions of lives.

Do feel free to not accept that self-sacrifice. Ita a free country. But no you don't get to force anyone else to treat you the same as someone who has been vaccinated. You can't compel others to think of you as you want them to.

We don't need 100% of the population vaccinated. Some highly vulnerable people with immunological issues or complex allergies cannot be vaccinated. So long as everyone who isn't in those categories gets the jab, that won't matter. If a lot of scaremongering antivaxxers without a basic grasp of how scientific research works also refuse, then this whole shitshow carries on indefinitely.

Morgan12 · 30/01/2021 08:43

I really hope it does need to proven that you have had it to travel. I hope businesses like bars also ask for proof upon entry.

I'm sorry to be blunt but I don't see why I should have to get the vaccine so the world can return to normal for the people who 'don't want to be guinea pigs'.

I won't be skipping and dancing to my appointment trust me. But I want a normal life. I want my kids (and kids the world over) to have a normal life. And people need to take the vaccine for that to happen.

To long for normality and refuse to be part of the solution is extremely hypocritical.

So yeah, have a nice dinner out, have a nice holiday, enjoy Christmas this year. You're welcome!

(This does not include people who can't have the vaccine for medical reasons of course.)

Excitablemuch · 30/01/2021 08:45

OP long term effects are a red herring here. The vaccine is probably only effective for a year... so unlikely to have long term effects. If you are going to react to any vaccine it is likely quick/instant reaction science shows. It won’t be mandatory- but I will not take my child near people who haven’t had it - because I wouldn’t want him to infect them!

bumbleymummy · 30/01/2021 08:51

Seeing as it isn’t 100% effective, it would make more sense to ask for proof of immunity rather than proof of having a vaccine. People can be immune through natural infection too.

chocolatesaltyballs22 · 30/01/2021 08:52

@davidsSchitt

"I'm not going to treated like a guinea pig"

your boss is looking at you funny because you're talking bollocks like this!

100% agree!! I hope they do make it mandatory. I'm sick of reading bollocks like this.

raviolidreaming · 30/01/2021 08:53

I'm not going to treated like a guinea pig until I know the long term effects of it

You are clearly wise and woke. How long is long term? When does your resurch tell you enough long term will have passed?

Waxonwaxoff0 · 30/01/2021 08:53

No vaccine will ever be mandatory, but it might be a requirement for travel. If you don't want it you might have to face that you won't be allowed to travel abroad.

frozendaisy · 30/01/2021 08:54

If you can't do things without a jab, and you don't get a jab, you want be able to do those things.

Jab won't be mandatory though.

davidsSchitt · 30/01/2021 08:55

Also interested to know what you consider "long term" op? Your boss is going home and telling their family that the staff have gone doolally

thebestnamehere · 30/01/2021 08:57

@Beaniecats

Might not be mandatory as such but a requirement for travel, and for some occupation

You won't be forced against your will!!!! This is Great Britain not North Korea or Russia !!!

Get a grip love!!!!

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 30/01/2021 08:58

@davidsSchitt

"I'm not going to treated like a guinea pig"

your boss is looking at you funny because you're talking bollocks like this!

Agree!!

Yes there may become some activities that are limited - NHS staff might find themselves, on basis of risk assessment, moved to other areas

Other countries may make the jab a travel requirement (using say the existing Yellow Book and yellow fever certification as the model)

I don't think it will be made compulsory by government. Whether it creeps to other things, hard to say. But as you point out - bodily autonomy is an important principle. Way more important than attending some festival or other, or having a cruise or whatever.

Though I would oppose any regs that meant those who were unable to have any of the covid vaccines for a well-documented medical reason would have a proper exemption. It is likely they are so few in numbers as to not make a difference to the community level effectivenes.

But all this will depend on results of further study into how far each vaccine suppresses transmission

thebestnamehere · 30/01/2021 08:58

Sorry @Beaniecats that was meant for @yarncakes

U8myufo · 30/01/2021 08:58

Oh dear! Asking questions about the vaccine really does bring the nastiest out!

I don't think it will be mandatory OP, although I do think that access to certain things will be withdrawn unless vaccinated to the point where it becomes increasingly difficult to function in society without having had it. So made mandatory by stealth. Nobody is going to pin you down but whether longer term they withdraw access to healthcare, schooling, travel etc we shall see in time. Nobody's got a crystal ball. It will certainly create a very divided society if mumsnet is anything to go by. Hopefully mumsnet doesn't represent real life.

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