Then why is there disagreement about getting the serum or not? One gathers information, makes a decision on its truth and how it applies to them and decides.
The problem is politicians think they have the power to demanding their constituents to follow them.
After following this thread I have kind of concluded that people, after making a decision, and believing it is the correct one, either want to convince others to do what they think is the right thing to do, because they want to help them, or perhaps they want to convenience themselves they made the right choice.
Many governments, or perhaps most of them, have a responsibility to protect (and do what is best for) their citizens. So they may, and likely will, react to a threat. A public health concern is a threat. In a democracy many of a county's leaders are elected, so by definition politicians. So actually they do have the power in many cases to demand their constituents follow them, at least within reason. Just doing what they were elected to do, more or less.
For me the most interesting argument that I see in this thread is that many seem to believe that reports and statistics that differ from what they believe are simply lies, regardless of the source. But then how can one trust sources that make statements that support their position? The other side thinks these sources are all lies, and their sources are truthful. Objectively, what are the chances that either position is 100% correct? Probably zero.
Each of us has VERY limited resources to personally verify things that affect millions of people. There is really no way we can evaluate the effectiveness of a medicine, and so on. So we need to rely of information supplied by others. And doing so requires faith in the sources, since there is no way we can ourselves verify the accuracy of the data being presented. We have to believe some sources in order to discredit others.
I've concluded it goes like this:
Person A: I decided to do this, because....
Person B: Your reasons are all based on lies...
Person A: What did you decide...
Person B: I decided to do this, because...
Person A: Your reasons are all based on lies...