A lesser of two evils, compulsory vaccination should be considered

PRIME Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently said that the Government has asked the COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee to study the possibilities of making the vaccination compulsory for all if the number of those registered in the programme is still far from achieving herd immunity.

As at June 8, Malaysia has inoculated a total of 3,790,121 people, with 1,180,744 people having received both doses. The country aims to vaccinate more than 80 per cent of its population (or close to 27 million people) by the first quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, almost 13 million people in Malaysia have registered for vaccination so far, although the number was only 50% of the total number expected to register and ensure the success of the national immunisation programme.

It’s certainly uncomfortable to argue for mandatory jab, even in a pandemic that has killed more than 3.78 million people worldwide. Yet, if we are still far from the finishing line once vaccines have been made fully available, some degree of compulsion may well be necessary.

Sure, some people would argue that individuals should have the right to choose whether they want to take the vaccine or not. And then, there are concerns about the risk of serious adverse reactions to the vaccine.

But making the vaccination compulsory should be considered.

As at June 9, Malaysia has 81,575 active cases, with a total of 633,891 confirmed cases since the pandemic struck the nation last year, while the death toll stands at 3,611, representing a mortality rate of 0.57%.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU), meanwhile, rose to a fresh high of 905, of whom 453 needed ventilators to breathe.

Taking into consideration the severity of the situation, it would seem like the lesser of two evils to have choice eliminated, and for the vaccine to be made compulsory.

After all, reluctant vaccine recipients would only slow down the Government’s efforts to achieve herd immunity, and having only a fraction of the country’s 33 million population inoculated against the virus is just not logical doesn’t sound logical either.

But considering the fact that vaccine hesitancy remains an issue more than three months after the Government began accepting registration for vaccination, there is still plenty of work to be done in this aspect to get more people to sign up.

Several private hospitals in the country have recently started administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the general public, while mobile vaccination units were recently launched to facilitate the vaccination process for villagers, indigenous people, the elderly, the disabled and the homeless in nine states in the country.

These are great efforts, but make no mistake, more certainly needs to be done to expedite the process. – June 13, 2021

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