On the seatbelt analogy

Several times I’ve heard people mention the law about wearing seatbelts as an analogous situation to vaccine mandates, almost like it’s some kind of precedent that’s been set. They say, “We accepted having to wear seatbelts and this is no different”. So I thought I’d list a few key ways in which this is an obviously false comparison.

1. Wearing a seatbelt does not inject something into your body; it’s more like putting on an item of clothing 

2. You can choose not to wear a seat belt, at your own risk, and still drive a car

3. The consequence for not wearing a seat belt (apart from possible injury) is that you might get a fine or perhaps there might be some insurance implications. Choosing not to do so does not cost you your job and livelihood or affect your ability to get a new job. 

4. Wearing a seatbelt is reversible – you can just take it off again! You cannot undo a vaccine. Whatever changes it makes to your body and its immune function are with you for life.

5. No one else goes around asking you whether you are wearing a seatbelt and denies you access to certain places if you refuse. 

6. I haven’t seen scores of people posting photos on Facebook of themselves ‘making it click’ with holier-than-thou sayings such as “I’m wearing my seatbelt for my whanau”. 

7. Your seatbelt doesn’t need updating every 6 months or an extra one put on. 

8. There are no KFC bribes for wearing one. 

9. To my knowledge, wearing a seat belt does not pose any risk to the wearer. Perhaps it may cause a little chafing or some injury in the event of an accident, but it doesn’t seem like people suffer injuries from merely wearing one. By contrast, the many stories and stats on covid-19 vaccine injuries cannot be ignored. 

10. Seatbelts had been around for a long time before being mandated, unlike the COVID-19 vaccines. You can’t magically simulate long term safety data because the key ingredient is TIME. 

So in conclusion, no, I don’t think mandatory vaccination is at all like mandatory seat belt wearing!