Andrew Wiggins on getting vaccinated

I still wish I didn't get it, to be honest with you...  I did it, and I was an All-Star this year and champion, so that was the good part, just not missing out on the year, the best year of my career.  But for my body, I just don't like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn't like that and I didn't like that it wasn't my choice.  I didn't like that it was either get this or don't play.

~ Andrew Wiggins, "Golden State Warriors' Andrew Wiggins still regrets getting COVID-19 vaccine, despite All-Star, title season," ESPN.com, July 20, 2022

Scott Morrison on why Novak Djokovic needs to be vaccinated to play in the Australian Open

If he is not vaccinated he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.  If that evidence is insufficient, then he won’t be treated any different to anyone else and will be on the next plane home – there should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic.

~ Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, "Appalling message’: outrage over Novak Djokovic’s medical exemption to play Australian Open," The Guardian, January 5, 2022

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot on her January 3 vaccine requirement

We didn’t want it to get to this point, but given the situation we find ourselves in, we have no choice. 

Beginning Jan. 3, you must show proof you are fully vax'd to enter bars, restaurants, fitness centers, and entertainment/recreational venues where food/drink are served.

To put it simply, if you have been living vaccine-free, your time is up. If you wish to live life as w/the ease to do the things you love, you must be vax'd. 

This health order may pose an inconvenience to the unvaccinated, and in fact it is inconvenient by design.

~ Lori E. Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, tweet, December 21, 2021

Anthony Fauci on vaccine mandates

Andrea Mitchell: I also want to ask you about the president's mandate which is being litigated right now...  There's so much opposition now in Congress and across the states, even in Democratic states...  This is becoming just a political test and the outlook is not at all a sure thing in the court system.  Is there any thought of backing off of that and trying to avoid all the outcry against it?

Anthony Fauci: We really have to get people vaccinated.  I understand and we all understand how people do not like to be told what to do.  They want to make their own choice and their own free will.  I get that and I respect that, but these are unusual times and you can't think only of yourself and your own personal opinion, but you've got to think about your communal responsibility to get yourself and your family and, indirectly then, the community protected.  So I would prefer - and we all would prefer - that people would be voluntarily getting vaccinated, but if they're not going to do that, sometimes you've got to do things that are unpopular, but that clearly supersede individual choices and are directed predominately at the communal good, and that's what we're talking about when we're talking about requirements.

Mitchell: It's such an important warning.  Thank you very much.  Maybe there would be a better word than mandate, but I don't know what it is.  

~ Dr. Anthony Fauci, Anthony Fauci interview with Andrea Mitchell, MSNBC, 8:35 mark, December 8, 2021

Jim Cramer on the Omicron variant and vaccine mandates

So it's time to admit that we have to go to war against COVID.  Require vaccination universally.  Have the military run it.  If you don't want to get vaccinated, you better be ready to prove your conscientious objector status in court.

~ Jim Cramer, CNBC's "Mad Money," November 29, 2021

(Quote in "CNBC host suggests nationwide vaccine mandate: 'Have the military run it'," The Hill, November 30, 2021

Dr. Aseem Malhotra on the vaccines and link to heart disease

I think now it's high time that policy makers around the world put an end to the mandates because I think if this signal [heart disease link with Covid vaccines] is strong and if it's correct, then history will not be on their side and the public will not forgive them for it.

~ Dr. Aseem Malhotra, "Explosive Interview, UK Cardiologist Highlights Link Between mRNA Vaccines and Heart Disease, While Noting Researchers Withholding Data Fearful of Losing Funding," The Last Refuge, 2:50 mark, November 27, 2021

Ron Klain on President Biden's federal vaccine mandate

It’s common sense...  If OSHA can tell people to wear a hard hat on the job, to be careful around chemicals, it can put in place these simple measures to keep our workers safe.

~ White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, "WH Chief of Staff Likens Vaccine Mandate to Requiring Workers to Wear a Hard Hat," Independent Journal Review, November 8, 2021

Martin Kulldorf on vaccines and vaccine mandates

Well, first of all, vaccines is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. I would put it together with the wheel and the plow and the writing as one of the top 10 most important inventions which has saved millions and millions of lives throughout the ages. And if you are old and you haven’t had COVID, then I would urge you immediately to go and get vaccinated, it’s very, very important. COVID is a serious disease for older people, it is much higher risk than an annual influenza for example, so I think that’s an important message to send to anybody who is old and haven’t had this disease should go and get vaccinated from one of the three approved vaccines in the US or another vaccine in other countries. 

A huge problem with mandate is that we have many people who have already had COVID. They have immunity. We have known for over a year that if you’ve had COVID, you have strong lasting immunity to this disease and we now know more recently that the immunity from having had COVID is stronger and more durable than the immunity get from vaccines. So if you’ve had COVID but now people, even though they’re had COVID, they are mandated to get the vaccines, that makes zero sense from a scientific point of view, and it makes zero sense from a public health point of view. 

But it’s worse than that, it actually creates problems because when people see that they are forced to take a vaccine that they don’t need because they already are immune then that causes a lot of distrust in public health. And we have seen during this last year and a half that all the hard work we’ve done over many decades to build trust in vaccines are now disappearing because we’ve making these mandates that makes no sense from a scientific or public health perspective and I’ll go into that more in detail as we move along today.

~ Dr. Martin Kulldorf, "Lockdowns, Mandates, and Natural Immunity: Kulldorff vs. Offit," Brownstone Institute, October 6, 2021

Kevin Duffy on Texas Governor Greg Abbott's executive order to stop private vaccine mandates

Governor Abbott is interfering in a business owner's ability to run his company as he sees fit.  If the owner wants all employees to tattoo their left butt cheek with the company's logo, he ought to have that right.

~ Kevin Duffy, tweet, October 20, 2021

Scott Gottlieb on vaccine mandates

I don't think governors should be stepping in to block private businesses from imposing mandates if a business thinks it's the only way they could protect their workers or their customers.  It should be their perogative to do that.  Just like I don't think the federal government should be stepping in to tell small businesses and private businesses that they have to mandate vaccination.  If we could leave this to be local decision making by businesses and by local authorities, I think that that would be optimal.

~ Scott Gottlieb, CNBC interview with Becky Quick, 1:15 mark, October 12, 2021

Rand Paul on vaccine mandates

You want more people to choose vaccination?  So do I.  You want to lesson vaccine hesistancies?  So do I.  You want to have that happen?  Quit lying to people about naturally acquired immunity.  Quit lording it over people, acting as if these people are deplorable and unwashed.  Try persuasion instead of government cudgels.  Try humility instead of arrogance.  Try freedom instead of coercion.  Most of all, try understanding that there's no more basic medical right than deciding what we inject into our bodies.

~ Senator Rand Paul, "'Do You Have A Science Degree?': Rand Paul Mocks Becerra's Qualifications To His Face," YouTube, 2:10 mark, October 1, 2021

ZeroHedge on Southwest Airlines "sickout"

Southwest airlines canceled nearly 2,000 flights between Saturday and Sunday - blaming the FAA and the weather for problems that didn't seem to affect other airlines. According to FlightAware, Southwest canceled over 1,000 of the flights on Sunday.

[...]

There was speculation on social media that the flight cancelations were being triggered by employees calling in sick en masse. In its statement Saturday, Southwest did not make reference to the speculation.

~ "Sickout? Southwest Airlines Cancels 1,000 More Flights As Disruptions Increase," ZeroHedge, October 11, 2021

Andrew Wiggins on his decision to submit to local vaccine mandates

I guess to do certain stuff, to work, you don't own your body.  That's what it comes down to.  If you want to work in society today, then I guess they made the rules of what goes in your body and what you do.

~ Andrew Wiggins

( As quoted in "Warriors' Andrew Wiggins explains decision to get COVID-19 vaccine: Options were 'to get vaccinated or not play in the NBA'," ESPN.com, October 5, 2021.)

Draymond Green on vaccine mandates

You say we live in the land of the free, well you're not giving anyone freedom because you're making people do something essentially...  That goes against everything that America stands for, or supposedly stands for.

~ Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors power forward, press conference about teammate Andrew Wiggins' Covid-19 vaccination status, September 30, 2021

Doutzen Kroes on vaccine mandates

The past few months have been very peaceful without social media.  A part of me wanted to escape into my family bubble and leave everything up to faith.  That part of me believes in the power of consciousness, that whatever you give energy to will grow.  So I tried to ignore the negative and focus on the positive.  But at this point I can no longer turn a blind eye to the injustice that is happening right in front of us. 

Other people have given me hope and strength with their courage to stand up for our rights.  They touched my heart and inspired me to do the same.  So although my hands are shaking while writing this, I feel it is time to choose courage over comfort and speak my truth: I will not be forced to take the shot. I will not be forced to prove my health to participate in society.  I will not accept exclusion of people based on their medical status.

~ Doutzen Kroes, "Supermodel Doutzen Kroes Says She Won't Be Forced To Get The Vaccine To Participate In Society," Evie, September 17, 2021

Leana Wen on vaccine mandates

I think we need to make it clear that there are privileges associated with being an American.  That if you wish to have these privileges, you need to get vaccinated.  Travel and having the right to travel interstate, it's not a constitutional right, as far as I know, to board a plane.  If you want to stay unvaccinated, that's your choice, but if you want to travel, you better go get that vaccine.

~ Dr. Leana Wen, CNN interview, September 10, 2021