Peer pressuring people to get COVID-19 vaccine is wrong

Peer pressure is something we learn about from a young age. 

We are told not to be peer pressured into cheating in elementary school. Not to be peer pressured into bullying in middle school. Not to be peer pressured into drinking in high school. 

But where is the line drawn in adulthood? 

We’re all being peer pressured into getting the COVID-19 vaccine by news stations, political leaders and the CDC because it’s “the right thing to do.”

What if it’s not what I want to do? I shouldn’t be pressured into getting a vaccine because I am told it’s the right thing to do. 

The first problem with the vaccine is it hasn’t been approved by the FDA. 

According to WOTL 11 News, a vaccine is approved by the FDA once it has been researched for years and 100% of evidence has been gathered. 

For the COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA allows it to be administered under an emergency use authorization. This means they looked at the current research and evidence and used that to determine if it was safe. 

While it may be authorized, it is not approved. So, if I don’t want to get it yet or at all, I shouldn’t feel like I have to. 

But everywhere you turn, it is shoved in your face. 

Every day on the news, you see something about why you must get the vaccine. 

One example is an article posted by Ryan Prior on CNN. 

The article was titled “How to speak to someone who’s hesitant to get vaccinated.” But what it should’ve said was “How to persuade someone who is hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine to get it anyway.”

In the article, Prior suggests that readers stress “social norms” to persuade hesitant coworkers, friends and family to get the shot. 

By this he means you should coerce them into getting it because you have. That’s the definition of peer pressure. 

My mom was persauded in this same way. 

Many of her coworkers got the vaccine, so they pressured her into getting it too even though she didn’t really want to.  

If something ends up happening to her down the line because she got the vaccine, who will have to deal with the consequences? It certainly won’t be her coworkers. 

We advise people to not be peer pressured into drinking or smoking, so why is it okay to peer pressure someone into getting a vaccine? 

If someone doesn’t want to get the vaccine, they shouldn’t feel like they have to.