I've really curious about your views on required vaccinations and its role in herd immunity. In my opinion this scenario poses a unique challenge to the libertarian worldview.
Considering the following facts:
1. Not everyone in society are healthy enough to receive vaccinations.
2. Vaccinations are not 100% effective.
3. Vaccinations serve a dual purpose - to protect individuals directly due to ones own vaccination and to protect individuals due to the herd immunity of the population.
Let's take a couple of scenarios:
A. You are the only person in the community who is vaccinated.
B. You are the only person in the community who is not vaccinated.
It may or may not be surprising that under certain circumstances you are at a higher risk in scenario A than scenario B. In scenario A there is not a sufficent herd immunity and the disease will spread throughout the population. You are at risk because your vaccination might not have been completely effective. In scenario B you are absolutely at risk if you come in contact with an affected person but because of herd immunity it is very unlikely that this will occur.
Now, taking all of this into consideration, is it appropriate for society to require some vaccinations for public health reasons? Is it within the role of the government to balance the rights of the public at large with the rights of the individual?