Having received both my shots, I may be personally immune to serious disease. But my daughter isn’t. And some people, due to their personal risk of side-effects from vaccines, may never be. And none of us will be if the virus mutates in a dangerous way. So, as is fairly well known by now, we collectively have to reach “herd immunity,” which is where so much of the population is immune that the virus has nowhere to go.

This is why DeSantis is completely wrong that getting a vaccination is a “personal decision.” A personal decision, in the sense he is using the term, is one that affects only one person. But this is a decision that affects everyone, because until we hit herd immunity, we’re still stuck in the pandemic.

By way of parallel, wearing a seat-belt may be a personal decision—though, of course, it is nonetheless required by law. But signaling before I make a left turn is not, because it affects everyone around me. Getting a vaccine is, in addition to its personal benefits, part of a collective effort to beat this virus.