In many countries the process of inoculating citizens in pursuit of herd immunity through vaccination as recommend by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is well under way.
However, there is a significant number of people who are reluctant to get vaccinated. This has led to disagreements about compulsory vaccination for citizens, sparking a debate about whether this will result in the violation of human rights.
I argue that compulsory vaccination in pursuit of herd immunity is not a violation of human rights.
The WHO has identified herd immunity through vaccination as the best fighting chance against this pandemic, and thus far only 2.29-billion people have been fully vaccinated – 29.4% of the world’s population.
Africa has the lowest number of vaccinated people. While inaccessibility to vaccines largely due to the economic status of the continent, and is a key contributor, vaccination reluctance is another major catalyst for the low number of vaccinated people on the continent and beyond.
According to Lisa Rosenbaum, who in April published a paper titled “Escaping Catch-22 – Overcoming Covid Vaccine Hesitancy”, vaccination reluctancy is largely inspired by misinformation characterised by conspiracies and science denialism. The University of Johannesburg in collaboration with Human Sciences Research Council recently conducted a survey that suggests that 28% of the population is vaccine hesitant, and 30% of this 28% is reluctant to vaccinate due to fear of side effects.
This fear is probably not based on scientific evidence, but on conspiracy theories and misinformation. Vaccine reluctance is a global challenge. Rosenbaum says that “ polling suggests about 31% of Americans wish to take a wait-and-see approach, and about 20% remain quite reluctant”.
This has become a daunting trend, and some MPs have called for vaccination to be compulsory. This has been met with opposition, with dissenters arguing that this will trample on human rights, particularly freedom of choice.
For this reason President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the last question and answer session in the National Assembly, argued that “the implementation of any mandatory vaccination policies must, in the end, be based on mutual respect, which is the respect for the rights of the people, to achieve the balance between public health imperatives, the constitutional rights of employees, and the efficient operation of the employer’s business”.
However, the right that stands above all in the Bill of Rights in SA is the right to life, which must be protected at all costs. It is for this reason that the State of National Disaster was declared last year following the outbreak of the pandemic. Because of this declaration the government was able to effect lockdown regulations that limited certain rights enshrined in the constitution and guaranteed in the Bill of Rights such as freedom of movement. This was done to curb the spread of the virus in the interest of saving lives.
Herd immunity is our best fighting chance if we are to beat this pandemic and recover from its devastating socioeconomic impact. We therefore need to ensure that each one of us is vaccinated expeditiously. It is in fact Covid-19 that tramples on our human rights, and not the vaccines. In fact, vaccines are our best chance at reclaiming our civil liberties.
Each and every one of us must play their role in dispelling misinformation, conspiracies and anti-vaccine sentiments in all segments of our society. We should encourage people to get their jabs so that we can interact without fear or posing danger to others.
We, like other nations, would like to attend festivals, support our soccer teams in stadia, and engage in meaningful and productive social and economic activities without fear.
These are the benefits of herd immunity that we must pursue at all costs! If it means vaccination must be compulsory, so be it! The benefit far outweighs the cost, and everyone will benefit. Making vaccination compulsory is not a violation of human rights, but rather the protection of those very rights. Thus getting a jab should be compulsory.
• Mkhari is a BA Political Sciences student at Unisa, majoring in politics and economics
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