Corona Pass

As could already be seen in other EU countries the restrictions are getting more and more ridiculous. The pressure for unvaccinated people is mounting.

This account of a Lithuanian man shows the absurdity of the rules once again and how much pressure they create at the individual level.

It’s fascinating to see and we should pay close attention to each step as the restrictions get honed more and more. How many of you out there had gotten the shot not so much because you were convinced by its medical benefits¹ but by the social benefits one would have in certain places?

With the cancellation of gratis testing looming for several weeks now, I am sure some were compelled to get vaccinated, simply because they would be unable to afford testing at the required frequency to live a normal life.

But if you — like I — got the shots already, don’t think we’re off the hook. We may be for now. But booster shots are being pondered and the next mutation is probably just around the corner². As soon as booster shots are available there will likely be an expiry on our vaccination status. So from then on it will be “get vaccinated” or “become ‘unvaccinated'”. And this could possibly happen annually or every six months.

And the fascinating thing is that it’s no sterile immunity one acquires with the vaccines. In fact no medical experts contests that. Yet, it is somehow no longer sufficient to wear the masks³ and keep distance. Somehow we need to push everyone into getting vaccinated.

In hindsight, a few decades from now, after capitalism has been overcome and if humanity survived the climate crisis which already seems to be rearing its ugly head, this may well turn out to be one of the biggest subsidy programs for the pharma industry in human history.

// Oliver

1. Perhaps you would have wanted to wait for the usual longterm trials to finish? [↩]
2. Heck, the flu shots get changed every year in and attempt to adjust them to an ever-changing set of flu viruses [↩]
3. … which we have to still do anyway [↩]