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LONDON, England, February 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Britain’s vaccine minister has suggested a very personal way (that some might consider invasive) of convincing people to take a COVID-19 vaccine: sending people from local governments to knock on their doors.
According to the Times, Nadhim Zahawi, 53, the U.K.’s minister for COVID-19 vaccine deployment, stated last week that he wanted local governments, called “councils” in the U.K., to send people door to door, first to make sure that all elderly people know they can be vaccinated, and then to convince those who refuse to take it to change their minds. The minister hopes to offer the COVID vaccine to everyone aged 70 and older by February 15.
The specter of a knock-at-the-door has led to questions about privacy and government coercion. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Zahawi confirmed that the names of everyone inoculated against the virus are recorded by the national immunization system. He would not confirm that the names of people who have refused to take it are being recorded, but he did not rule it out, either. When asked if the government should record this information, he said, “So we absolutely will look at how we are addressing the issue of refusal rates.”
“At the moment, this is the highest uptake of any vaccination programme, including all the flu vaccination programmes, that [the] NHS has run.”
Approximately 85% of people who are offered the vaccine accept it. However, there is some handwringing among the authorities because of the 15% who refuse. A large number belong Britain’s “BAME” (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) communities. In addition, 20% of “social care staff” — like state-funded care workers who visit the elderly at home — are also reluctant to take the vaccine. There is overlap in the two groups: Last year it was estimated that 22% of social workers for children and 25% of care workers for adults belonged to ethnic minorities.
According to the Guardian, a total of 9,508,006 COVID-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and February 3. First doses numbered 9,041,835, and 466,171 were the second dose. Two doses are being touted as the most effective use of the vaccines.
The three vaccines approved for use in the U.K. are produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Moderna. It is not legal in the United Kingdom to compel anyone to take any one of these vaccines, but there are concerns that employers will begin to compel their employees to take it.
The U.K. Medical Freedom Alliance, the Workers of England Union, and Lawyers for Liberty have all signed an open letter condemning such coercion by employers as unlawful.
“It is an established principle in English Law that an individual with the capacity to consent cannot and should not be compelled to have any medical treatment against their wishes,” they wrote.
“The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 (section 45E) provides that Regulations made under certain sections of that Act 'may not include provision requiring a person to undergo medical treatment … 'Medical treatment' includes vaccinations and other prophylactic treatment,’” they continued.
Furthermore, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed Resolution number 2361 of 2021 on 27 January 2021, in which it was stated that [the Assembly urges member States and the European Union to]:
6.1 Paragraph 7.3.1 – ensure that citizens are informed that the vaccination is NOT mandatory and that no one is politically, socially, or otherwise pressured to get themselves vaccinated, if they do not wish to do so themselves;
6.2 Paragraph 7.3.2 – ensure that no one is discriminated against for not having been vaccinated, due to possible health risks or not wanting to be vaccinated[.]
“We would argue that this principle, enshrined in our domestic law, would make it inequitable and potentially unlawful for any employer to seek to mandate the vaccine,” the organizations stated.
The United Kingdom, though no longer part of the European Union, is still a member state of the Council of Europe.
The U.K. Medical Freedom Alliance, the Workers of England Union, and Lawyers for Liberty pointed out in their letter that there is not enough evidence that the vaccines prevent serious illness and death or that they do not cause “late-onset side effects.” They also observe that there is no proof as yet that vaccination prevents the transmission of COVID and note that the government has advised those who accept it to continue to maintain social distance and to wear masks.
People of goodwill can disagree about the safety, efficacy and religious implications of a new vaccine for the coronavirus.
But, everyone should agree on this point:
No government can force anyone who has reached legal adulthood to be vaccinated for the coronavirus. Equally, no government can vaccinate minors for the coronavirus against the will of their parents or guardians.
Please SIGN this urgent petition which urges policymakers at every level of government to reject calls for mandatory coronavirus vaccination.
Fear of a disease - which we know very little about, relative to other similar diseases - must not lead to knee-jerk reactions regarding public health, nor can it justify supporting the hidden agenda of governmental as well as non-governmental bodies that have apparent conflicts of interest in plans to restrict personal freedoms.
The so-called "public health experts" have gotten it wrong many times during the current crisis. We should not, therefore, allow their opinions to rush decision-makers into policies regarding vaccination.
And, while some people, like Bill Gates, may have a lot of money, his opinion and that of his NGO (the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) - namely, that life will not return to normal till people are widely vaccinated - should not be permitted to influence policy decisions on a coronavirus vaccination program.
Finally, we must also not allow the rush by pharmaceutical companies to produce a new coronavirus vaccine to, itself, become an imperative for vaccination.
Unwitting citizens must not be used as guinea pigs for New World Order ideologues, or Big Pharma, in pursuit of a vaccine (and, profits) which may not even protect against future mutated strains of the coronavirus.
And it goes without saying that the production of vaccines using aborted babies for cell replication is a total non-starter, as the technique is gravely immoral.
However, if after sufficient study of the issue, a person who has reached the age of majority wishes to be vaccinated with a morally produced vaccine, along with his children, that is his business.
But we cannot and will not permit the government to make that decision for us.
Thank you for SIGNING and SHARING this petition, urging policymakers at all levels of government to reject mandatory coronavirus vaccination.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Bill Gates: Life won’t go back to ‘normal’ until population 'widely vaccinated' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bill-gates-life-wont-go-back-to-normal-until-population-widely-vaccinated
COVID-19 scare leads to more digital surveillance, talk of mandatory vaccine 'tattoos' for kids' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/covid-19-scare-leads-to-more-digital-surveillance-talk-of-mandatory-vaccine-tattoos-for-kids
Trudeau says no return to ‘normal’ without vaccine: 'Could take 12 to 18 months' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/trudeau-says-no-return-to-normal-without-vaccine-could-take-12-to-18-months
Trudeau mulls making coronavirus vaccine mandatory for Canadians - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/trudeau-mulls-making-coronavirus-vaccine-mandatory-for-canadians
US bishop vows to ‘refuse’ COVID-19 vaccine if made from ‘aborted fetal tissue' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/us-bishop-vows-to-refuse-covid-19-vaccine-if-made-from-aborted-fetal-tissue
** While LifeSite opposes immorally-produced vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines, we do not have a position on any particular coronavirus vaccines produced without such moral problems. We realize many have general concerns about vaccines, but also recognize that millions of lives have been saved due to vaccines.
*** Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
Meanwhile, state employees are already being sent door-to-door in some areas in England to test residents for the so-called South African variant of COVID-19. Council workers in protective clothing have been going to homes to hand residents self-testing kits, one per member of the household aged 16 or over. The residents are expected to swab themselves, put the stick in a vial of preserving fluid, package the vial and hand it to the council workers upon their return.
LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.