09-17-2021, 03:30 PM
(09-17-2021, 01:57 PM)taylortbb Wrote:(09-17-2021, 01:12 PM)jeffster Wrote: Not sure if I agree or not, as same can applied to: smokers, illicit drug users, heavy drinkers/alcoholics, dangerous/drunk/speeding drivers, those who have shitty diets, etc. All of those end up having people in ICU. All take up way too many beds. And all 100% preventable.
I hear this comparison a lot, but I think it ignores the really different circumstances the two occur in. We don't normally de-prioritize anti-vaxxers for medical care, but in the middle of a pandemic, when ICUs are being overwhelmed due to them, it's a different situation. We're not in a drunk driving pandemic.
Here’s the thing: we already de-prioritize people in general to take care of those that are careless/reckless regarding their health. It’s been going on for years, and we accept that, because we don’t have unlimited money to take care of every medical issue out their (such as, costly Rx to take care of rare health conditions). A child born with a rare condition that requires $250,000/year Rx isn’t getting it. Money isn’t there. Why? Because we spend $100,000 on a person with lung cancer due to smoking, because we spend $500,000 reconstructing a person that hit a bridge support at 150kph and somehow survived. We *don’t* take care of those that are most innocent first, due to cost, and due to money being spent elsewhere. We’re always behind on elective surgeries (AKA, life improving surgeries) all due to costs associated with reckless/careless people.
So yeah, limit healthcare for those that are anti-vax, let them die in peace at their homes or in the hospital hallway. But start doing the same for all those other reckless/careless people. I personally don’t view them any differently in regard to our healthcare.
It might be a popular idea. But not sure that legally or even morally it’s the right thing to do. And once we cross the bridge, there is no turning back. The public at that point will demand similar consequences for other reckless people.
Keep in mind also that: many unvaccinated people are low-income, visible minority, low education levels, homeless, drug addicts, marginalized, etc. Someone going into the hospital with Covid-19 and unvaccinated likely isn’t going to admit they are anti-vax and it would be simply wrong to let those people that I just mentioned die because of their situation. The anti-vax folks are a very small minority.