Matthew Laverack (Compulsory vaccinations belong to Nazi era, Letters, January 4) and those who seek to equate compulsory vaccinations to the policies of the Nazi era make a basic category error.

The motive for undertaking any particular action is nearly always relevant and the motives of the Nazis are hardly in dispute.

However, many actions (not all) which impinge on the reluctant can be both fair and reasonable in certain circumstances.

Sometimes, for example, it may be necessary to destroy private property to avoid the much greater destruction of other private property, in the case of fire, for example. Or it may be necessary to restrict the liberty of someone with a serious infectious disease.

Comparisons with the Nazis are rarely helpful or relevant.

Tony Lawton, Skelton

 

A free society isn’t the same as a free-for-all

I was incensed by Mathew Laverack’s letter comparing the suggestion of making Covid injections compulsory with the Nazis and stating ‘that’s not what my parents generation fought for’. What utter rubbish.

Our parents fought for our freedom against tyranny of the most vile kind, not some spurious arguments about the freedom of the individual. Freedom comes with responsibility and I find Matthews’ arguments - and those of others like him - irresponsible.

A free society doesn’t equate to a ‘free for all’ but a responsibility for the welfare of everybody and the protection of the most vulnerable.

Jim Welsman, Stamford Bridge