Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has recently made a purely political move in ordering that State offices/agencies are not to follow the Federal vaccine mandates handed down by President Biden.

I agree that people should in theory have the liberty to accept or deny the vaccine, but in practice, it doesn’t work, and there are many instances where our government and numerous others have required vaccines by government mandate, and they are all a good idea.

The rationale used by the Republicans who refuse the vaccine is the doctrine of personal liberty, which is a fallacy if you believe you have this liberty 100% of the time. I can prove it that you don’t have 100% personal liberty here or anywhere in the world.

You can’t stand up in a crowded theater and yell “fire”. You also can’t send your kids to school without the mandated vaccines. There are many countries (including ours) that won’t let you in and/or out if you don’t have certain vaccines.

The Covid vaccine has been given to appx 3 Billion people worldwide as of Oct 2021. That’s 38% of the planet, and this vaccine has been in use for 2 years now. It’s safer and more effective than many other vaccines given. The flu vaccine is only about 40% to 60% effective in stopping the flu, but we encourage it because it’s the best tool we have to control the flu, and if you get the shot & get the flu anyway, its symptoms are not life-threatening.

What’s happened is that the Covid vaccine has simply gotten tribalized/politicized. 58% of Americans have been vaccinated as of Oct 2021. People who show up at hospitals with Covid symptoms are typically either those who haven’t been vaccinated, or who are old or frail/sickly. Anybody who hasn’t gotten a vaccine is making a choice not rooted in the facts and evidence and simply made for political reasons or fear.

As for Gov. Ivey, asking the state to not obey a Federal order may be tantamount to treason in my opinion and at the very least is probably unlawful, but what is the law is determined by judges who have a policital bent. Politics is the problem everywhere with everything. It’s strictly a political move and will surely not work.