Johannesburg- Our upper arms are contested terrain.
Governments around the world need all of us to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
Soon after they were developed, the refrain was that they would not be mandatory and those who had misgivings, be they religious or traditional, would not be forced to vaccinate.
As countries scramble to achieve herd immunity necessary to contain the spread of the pandemic, the narrative has somewhat changed and subtle methods are being adopted to coerce people to vaccinate.
For the record, I am all for the vaccination rollout in order for lives and livelihoods to be safeguarded and a semblance of normality returning.
However, I’m also a believer in the rights of individuals to make decisions that affect their own lives.
You can say I am caught between a rock and a hard place. When the vaccines arrived, President Cyril Ramaphosa made it clear that they would not be mandatory.
I remember remonstrating with someone who insisted that all of us would be forced to vaccinate. I assured the person that they were misinformed.
However, it is becoming clear that the unvaccinated would soon have doors slammed in their faces and their freedom of movement restricted.
For instance, when public events resume, those who fail to produce their vaccination passports would not be allowed in. It’s happening globally and we are next.
The government is just tinkering with the terminology they will use to force everyone to vaccinate without stepping on the toes of our constitution.
Companies at home and abroad are warning employees their reluctance to jab will hinder their job prospects.
Having failed to use soft power to persuade enough people to believe in the hastily developed vaccines, desperation is kicking in and people are being threatened. Soon, you won’t be able to fly anywhere without your vaccine passport.
You will not be allowed inside your favourite pub if you can’t prove that your upper arm has been injected. You will not be able to enter a stadium to watch your favourite team.
My guess is, after the local government elections, you won’t be able to visit a mall without a vax passport. The plan was to vaccinate everyone on the planet and we have seen how the rollout of the vaccination programme started with healthcare workers and the elderly and has now moved to the 18-year-olds.
It’s a matter of time before babies inside their mothers’ wombs are also jabbed. Considering that there is still a lot not known about this pandemic, perhaps it is understandable that scientists are behind the learning curve.
However, that’s not a reason to take away the rights of those who are vaccine-hesitant.
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