Covid vaccines: Why Neil Young has good reason to know the value of vaccines – Steve Cardownie

While the Westminster government has dropped its policy of mandatory vaccinations for health workers in England, Austria is pursuing a different course of action and is introducing a new law making it mandatory for everyone over the age of 18 to be vaccinated.

Its government has said that vaccinations are effective and that the law is needed to prevent future lockdowns. At present, 72 per cent of Austrians are fully vaccinated and the new law, which comes into force tomorrow, will impose heavy financial penalties on those who continue to refuse the vaccine without appropriate medical exemption. Fines will range from 500 euros to 3,600 euros.

Countries throughout the world have introduced measures to fit their circumstances and Scotland is no different. However the measures we have endured are not as significant as some others, as in Austria’s case.

However the anti-vaxxers are still out there peddling their myths and ludicrous lies. Despite their wild assertions being debunked at every turn, they ignore the facts and continue to cast doubt in the minds of some people, posing a very real risk to their health.

So it was good to see that Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have told Spotify to delete their back catalogues from the platform in protest over anti-vaccine propaganda available on the streaming service.

Neil Young suffered from polio as a child, contracting the disease in 1951 and then benefitting from a vaccine that was newly developed a few years later. He said: “I was vaccinated for polio at my school in Canada. Nothing new about vaccines. They have been there for a long time. Like me! Trust science.”

A message from the Editor:

Neil Young, seen with wife Daryl Hannah, has taken a stand over Covid vaccine misinformation (Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW)

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