The Czech Medical Chamber is calling on the government to introduce mandatory vaccination for all adults, as in Austria, its neighbour to the south, which is imposing compulsory vaccinations for all adults from February 1.
While Ireland has no stomach for mandatory vaccination, and compliance is high in any event, there are parallel issues that need to be debated. For example, the question of an individual’s data protection versus whether people have a right to know if they are interacting regularly with someone who is unvaccinated. Are anti-vaxxer rights impinging on the rights of others to work or avail of services in a safe environment?
An employer has a duty of care toward employees, but how can they guarantee a safe working environment if they aren’t allowed to ask if staff are vaccinated? An unvaccinated chef can prepare and cook food, an unvaccinated waiter can serve it, but a customer must have a Covid pass to eat it. Such illogicalities are difficult to defend.
“There’s a debate about year three by the way, should there be forced vaccines on people if this hesitancy persists. It’s a tricky thing. [WHO’s] Mike Ryan, who you may have seen yesterday, said don’t do that, that is the last resort here, you know? It’s still all about cajoling and trying to convince people to take up the vaccine.”
Professor Luke O’Neill: “They are if you are infected.”
Tubridy:”If you’re the infected person?”
O’Neil: “Yeah, the number one advice is to stop you coughing. I could cough on you but the face mask will trap the virus. If you’re not infected you have no reason to wear a face mask. Two reasons. One, people fidget with it anyway, you know? And secondly it goes in through the eyes as well. This evil virus will penetrate the eyes and that’s not covered anyway. There is no evidence that wearing a face mask will protect you at all. The main reason is to stop you spreading it.”
Tubridy: “If you don’t have this,.”
O’Neill: “There is no need to wear a face mask ever. Absolutely not.”
Tubridy: “At all?”
O’Neill: “At all. That’s the recommendation.”
Turbridy: “So why are people panicking a little bit about…”
O’Neill:”They’ve seen too many horror movies. ”
Meanwhile…
The Tonight Show, April 30.
Professor Luke O’Neill: “You hate this but the science has changed in the last three…there’s new information has come along…”
Ivan Yates: “I’m actually prepared to indulge this…”
O’Neill: “…new information…asymptomatic spread means you got to wear a mask. It was good before, coughing meant spreading, you wore a mask if you had symptoms. Now we know it spreads with no symptoms. The great analogy is it‘s like a fire burning in our cities…you’re breathing embers that might get the fire going again. A mask will stop the embers.”
Luke writes:
I realise the ‘science has changed’ but what happened Professor O’Neill’s warning about the eyes? He said ‘This evil virus will penetrate the eyes and that’s not covered [by a mask] anyway’. Does this still apply? Or has the science changed on that also?
