Peter Singer: Getting a Covid-19 vaccination should be compulsory

Although seat-belt legislation was met with strong objections 50 years ago, few people complain about such a commonsense rule today. In mandating vaccination against Covid-19, governments can offer the same basic justification for protecting both individuals and society

In the Covid era, making vaccination compulsory doesn’t violate Mill’s 'harm to others' principle.

I’m writing from Victoria, the Australian state that became, in 1970, the first jurisdiction in the world to make it compulsory to wear a seat belt in a car. The legislation was attacked as a violation of individual freedom, but Victorians accepted it because it saved lives. 

Now most of the world has similar legislation. I can’t recall when I last heard someone demanding the freedom to drive without wearing a seat belt.