Max Weber Would Make Covid Vaccination Mandatory
At least that’s how I understand the German sociologist’s exhortation to take responsibility rather than just hide behind convictions.
All signs point to vaccination.
Photographer: Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
Here’s a real-life trade-off I want you to ponder. Say you’re a policymaker and, like me, a classical liberal — that is, somebody who generally puts a premium on individual freedom. You’re now dealing with another wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections and looking at scenarios your advisors have placed before you.
In one, you’re keeping vaccinations against Covid-19 strictly voluntary, to safeguard the freedom of people to make their own decisions, sound or unsound. But the statistical models say that this path leads to insufficient uptake and a spike in hospitalizations that would overwhelm clinics and require doctors to make brutal triage decisions.