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Comment by pmdulaney | Hacker News Reader

People gathering indoors in violation of government regulations are clearly harming the public, because they invariably will increase the number of infections and deaths.

What are the ethics, though, of refusing to get a vaccine? if Alex Honnold had fallen off the face of El Capitan, he would have killed only himself. Is it not the same in the case of someone refusing to be vaccinated, given that the vaccination is available to everyone who does want it?

There is one difference, I suppose. The person who refuses vaccination and subsequently gets a serious case of COVID-19 causes society to spend a good deal of money treating them in the hospital. (Even if they have insurance they are needlessly increasing the costs of care for everyone.)

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Some people are unable to get a vaccine for reasons other than personal choice. The CDC lays out certain conditions for each vaccine where a person should not get vaccinated. [0]

For example, someone who is pregnant or has a weakened immune system should not get the MMR vaccine. It's possible there will be certain conditions for any COVID-19 vaccine as well. These people will have to rely on herd immunity (ideally attained mostly through vaccinations) to ensure they stay healthy. If someone is eligible to get a vaccine but chooses not to, that would be putting others at risk.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/should-not-vacc.html

People who choose not to vaccinate can impact others by spreading the virus to others who cannot vaccinate for medical or religious reasons. They also spread to other people who choose not to vaccinate.

Vaccines are also not 100% effective, some people who get vaccinated are not themselves fully immune. If you choose not to vaccinate you also put those people at risk.

Finally, if you choose not vaccinate and end up in the ICU, you are taking resources in a critical ward that might be needed for patients with other serious medical conditions.

If vaccination rates are too low you don’t get herd immunity, and people who are unable to be vaccinated are more at risk.

What is a typical reason someone wouldn't be able to be vaccinated?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunosuppression

  Non-deliberate immunosuppression can occur in, for example, ataxia–telangiectasia, complement deficiencies, many types of cancer, and certain chronic infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/should-not-vacc.html

It varies by vaccine, but allergies, health conditions, and age are all factors.

Some people also practice religions that forbid them.

One example, babies too young to receive vaccines or pregnant mothers.

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