Among the supporters and opponents to vaccine (as an instrument for treatment and prevention) there are then the supporters and opponents to compulsory vaccination (as an instrument for protecting public health).
Two different aspects for which there have taken shape the positions in favor and those against the vaccine (YES Vax – NO Vax) and the positions in favor and those against the compulsory vaccination (which for COVID-19 passes through the “Green Pass” and therefore we have: YES Green Pass – NO Green Pass).
In Italy, the “Green Pass” is a certification issued to vaccinated, to recovered or to who has a negative swab against COVID-19, which allows people to access to services, work, and more!
In Europe and in the World, the “Green Pass” takes on different forms and shades from country to country!
But let’s try to reconstruct the facts!
One of the first forms of compulsory vaccination was introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805, when he imposed the compulsory vaccination against smallpox on his troops. This requirement was then extended to the entire French population the following year.
Shortly thereafter, many other countries introduced the compulsory vaccination against smallpox and against other diseases that were afflicting humanity, some of which eradicated thanks to vaccines!
The first compulsory vaccination introduced in Italy was precisely the anti-smallpox, made compulsory by the Crispi-Pagliani law of 1888. Many other vaccinations were made compulsory later on.
“Currently, there are ten compulsory vaccinations in Italy from zero to 16 years old, which are: anti-poliomyelitis; anti-diphtheria; anti-tetanus; anti-hepatitis B; anti-whooping cough; anti-Haemophilus influenzae type b; anti-measles; anti-rubella; anti-mumps; anti-varicella.
The compulsory vaccination for the last four ones (anti-measles, anti-rubella, anti-mumps, anti-varicella) is subject to review every three years based on epidemiological data and vaccination coverage achieved.”
For this reason, different subjects have opposed the compulsory vaccination over time, carrying on hard battles against a measure introduced for centuries now… So much so that the debate has now become more political than scientific…!
But let’s get to today!
As regards the COVID-19 pandemic, given the socio-economic and political conditions, the Italian Government has decided to introduce a form of pseudo-compulsory vaccination that imposes the requirement of “Green Pass” as an instrument to fight the virus and return to normal.
This is why we have been witnessing for months the daily clash between YES Green Pass and NO Green Pass (or rather, between the latter and the Italian Government) that leads to strikes, demonstrations or various protests which sometimes degenerate into street clashes, unfortunately causing serious damage to things and people.
To NO Green Pass this instrument has indeed the tone of a compulsory vaccination and it has ignited again a debate on the health, personal, psychological, social, and constitutional aspects pertaining to the vaccine and compulsory vaccination.
In fact, the boundary line between these two opposing positions is very thin. On the one hand, there is the protection of public health enshrined in Art. 32 of the Italian Constitution and, on the other, one’s personal freedom which however, in this case, as in other cases, can threaten the protection of public health.
The problem is indeed the virus: COVID-19!
Its strength, its transmissibility, its mutation, and many other viral characteristics make it extremely dangerous to humans and earth. Which is why it seems difficult to find a common solution between the two positions… and this leads to clash!
However, we can say (without any doubt) that the vaccine and compulsory vaccination are gradually taking us out of the health emergency and they are saving millions of lives in the World!
As a countercheck, we could do a reverse analysis and then wondering: how would the World have been today without the COVID-19 vaccine? What would have happened without the Green Pass?
To be honest, I was initially doubtful about this vaccine as well, but only for the “short” time that led to its discovery and its placing on the market.
This, in fact, shouldn’t discourage us! On the contrary, to fully understand the extent and majesty of the effort made we could use an example about that, such as:
“Let’s consider that we have an army made up of different divisions. Let’s therefore consider deploying the entire army at our disposal to defeat a single and small enemy army among the many enemy armies that are still hostile. It is obvious that, no matter how fierce and hostile this single and small enemy army is, it will sooner or later succumb to this enormous war machine deployed”.
There! To achieve this result, let’s assume that the pharmaceutical companies have temporarily frozen the various projects in progress, gathered all their strength, and acted only on the basis of this virus, so as to obtain a vaccine in the shortest possible time that would allow us to return to normal.
Obviously, there are many dynamics that have led to achieving this result and these have involved various interested players, such as: institutes and companies that already had active research on SARS-CoV-1 on hand; States that have strongly supported the research; various international bodies that have accelerated the control and release processes; WHO; people that actively contributed to the research; and others!
Thus, never like this time, we can say that the union is strength and victory seems to be close!
