Alabama Governor Kay Ivey pleaded to her unvaccinated citizens

but, Gov. Ivey, actually there is more you and others can do and that you should do.  You and the legislature can require people to get the vaccine -- in order to prevent harm to others.  There is no constitutional right or freedom to unnecessarily endanger or harm others.  And there are many laws to prevent it.

There is more all states and the federal government can do in the case of the COVID pandemic too.  It is not just about making people take care of "themselves", but about preventing them from harming others.  That is because the unvaccinated are not simply gambling with their own health and lives, but are endangering others through the risk of becoming ill and then incubating new mutations of the virus that will be resistant to available vaccines.  They risk becoming "patient zero" to a whole new surge of the pandemic, and starting us all over again.  If they do that, they will be no better than the people they blame for starting and turning loose the COVID-19 pandemic in the first place.  They will be responsible for a new round of hundreds of thousands or millions of deaths. There is ample precedent for laws requiring people to behave in ways that prevent them from risking seriously endangering other people -- laws against reckless endangerment and depraved indifference to human life.  For example we have laws against drunk driving even if one doesn't actually hit anyone.  If someone could infect you or those you love with a deadly virus, do you really want him or her to be able to be around you or those you love any more than you want this person to be on the road driving like this when you or they, or any other innocent people are on the road? and, by the way, here is how this person's drive ended Was  he risking only his/her own life?  Would you have wanted you or your family to be in one of the oncoming cars?  Of course not!  Well, it is the same for COVID because of the risk of generating mutations that evade vaccine immunity!  One sick person can end up killing many people, far more than a drunk driver is likely to kill.  So if there can be laws against drunk driving or other kinds of reckless endangerment and depraved indifference to human life, there should easily be able to be laws against being unvaccinated against COVID or any other deadly contagious disease, unless one is unable to take the vaccine because of some other health condition.  And if one cannot take the vaccine, they should wear a mask and socially isolate as much as possible, just like if one is not a drinking driver but has a medical condition of some sort that renders his/her driving as impaired as the driver in this video, s/he should not be allowed to drive, even though his/her danger to others is not his/her fault. A reporter at a White House press conference saw the problem and voiced it to press secretary Jen Psaki, who saw part of the problem but not its significance: Wrong answer from the White House.  Criminalizing an activity that unnecessarily endangers others is not "placing blame" or issuing a threat; it is a legitimate function of government to protect innocent people from great harm by others -- by penalizing harmful acts.  The federal government can do it in this case, as can the state of Alabama.  It is a legitimate right and power of the state, which governments commonly exercise and would be remiss not to.  The reporter tried to point that out with a follow-up: but Ms. Psaki again missed the significance of the problem and the legitimate possible solution: No! Governments do not just give out information about the harms of killing people, driving drunk, or other forms of reckless endangerment and depraved indifference or even simple negligence and then merely hope and expect people will act reasonably and wisely.  When people ignore the word, as they do about vaccines, governments prohibit acts that cause or risk harm to others; they make it a crime, attach a penalty to it, and punish people for committing it.  They certainly could do it for being willfully unvaccinated in social proximity to others.  And they should, because that is even more dangerous and potentially deadly to far more people than driving drunk is. Governor Ivey, and even this White House are simply not taking seriously enough the threat to public safety and the potential cause of terrible harm that being willfully unvaccinated presents. The should legally prohibit it, make it a serious offense with a severe punishment attached, and they legitimately can.  The 'freedom' to unnecessarily risk the lives of others is not a legitimate freedom nor anyone's right.  It is certainly not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.