Originally posted by: return_to_hades
Vaccine development can take 1-15 years. You have to remember.
- COVID vaccine development was fast tracked
- mRNA technology was discovered as far back as 1978 and scientists have been working on it
- Coronaviruses have been around for decades. Many flu strains are coronaviruses and vaccinate against coronavirus. So research professionals have been studying and developing vaccines for coronaviruses for years. COVID-19 was a novel coronavirus which means that this specific coronavirus was brand new. So we weren't starting from scratch per se.
Boosters have been offered but not mandated.
Smallpox, polio, measles vaccines are required in many places. But Hepatitis, HPV, and meningitis shots are not.
You need chickenpox vaccination for the majority of school districts. But shingles vaccine is a choice for adults.
Whenever there is a public health risk due to the choices people make, the requirements get stricter. The public health risk is so extremely high due to COVID that the strictness is more than usual. As science goes further the strictness will slacken. We can look at the history of prior pandemics and see that flow. We don't live on an island. We are part of society with social responsibility to others. Every now and then being a member of society means doing things as a responsible citizen that may not be desirable or comfortable to you.
And vaccines will always be a choice. No one is going to wrestle you to the floor and give you a shot. You get a choice to be vaccinated or be homeschooled. You get a choice to be vaccinated or forgo immigration or travel to regions that require specific vaccines. Anyone who got a green card to the USA has had to get a health exam and be up to date on shots.
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