UW-Milwaukee’s Editorial Board is for Vaccine Passport Ban

The Wisconsin Assembly has passed a bill that no government or business could require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or the use of vaccination passports. UW-Milwaukee’s editorial board also believes that public and private entities should be banned from requiring vaccination passports in Wisconsin.

Requiring the use or need for vaccination passports is an infringement on people’s freedom. No citizen should be forced to put a substance into their body that has been rushed through the scientific process and that does not have enough research on its effects.

The African-American and Indigenous communities have dealt with distrust regarding the health care system of the United States government. The Tuskegee Study was an experiment on Black men that studied the effects of untreated syphilis. The men were left untreated, even after penicillin was found to be effective in treatment. The men in the study received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. That’s just one example of many in which why the African American people don’t trust the US health care system.

Indigenous children were used in medical experiments to treat tuberculosis in the 1930s. The Indigenous hospitals that were meant to treat tuberculosis were actually running vaccination experiments.

Minority communities have a distrust for the healthcare systems which is understandable due to the history they have endured. It’s not a simple request to ask these communities to trust in a government that has abused them time and time again.

There are also people who won’t get vaccinated due to religious reasons, and we believe they are allowed that right. There are also groups of people who can’t get vaccinated due to health concerns and against medical advice from their providers. Realistically, everyone being vaccinated is not a possibility.

Although everyone can not get vaccinated, the board does believe that society has the obligation to protect vulnerable populations such as the disabled or those who have compromised health. We believe that the state should implement certain exemptions to the ban, allowing entities with majority populations that are elderly or sick, to impose a vaccination requirement, or passport.

The UW systems is a public entity that would fall under the ban as well. We believe that the UW system should not require its students to need a vaccination to return to school. The majority of college aged students are not high-risk, so those extra precautions don’t seem to be necessary. We believe that students should be able to receive an education regardless of being vaccinated or not. We are aware that this is a difficult issue, with competing principles and that to preserve the rights of some, you have to take away the rights of another. There are students and staff, who have compromised health, and not having everyone on campus vaccinated could put them at risk. It’s a double-edged sword, however, we did not make our decision lightly, and without thinking of all factors and possibilities.

The board does believe that COVID should be taken seriously and although things seem to be getting better, there are still people at risk. Wearing a mask is something that should still be implemented for those who are sick, or those who are unvaccinated among communities who are compromised. If a person chooses not to get vaccinated for whatever reason, which they have the right to do, then wearing a mask is a considerate option to help stop the spread.

 However, more than anything we support those who choose not to put a foreign substance into their bodies. Just because a person chooses not to get vaccinated does not mean they are anti-vac or inconsiderate, people have their reasons whether we are aware of them or not. There are many people who just want to wait for more research to be discovered before making the decision to get vaccinated, and that is okay. We have slowly been seeing the side effects that these vaccines are causing, even after being distributed. It is understandable that some people are not willing to take the chance.

We are concerned that limiting a person’s right to travel or to do various activities without a vaccine passport, infringed on a person personal choice. If one can’t go back to the way things were prior to COVID because they aren’t vaccinated, how can they maintain their regular life? It’s almost as if they’re being punished. If the government isn’t legally requiring vaccinations, then we shouldn’t be limiting people’s right to live their day to day lives.