DINESH RAMBALLY
THE MANDATORY requirement of a covid19 vaccine for workers as a pre-condition for resumption or assumption of work is attracting divided opinions across several quarters. Far from deliberately trying to be inconsistent with the opinions of my colleagues on this issue, I feel duty-bound to add my perspective on the issue.
It may sound cliched but widespread vaccination remains the most viable way to put the pandemic mostly behind us. Open borders, emerging variants and anti-vaxxers mean achieving herd immunity is now essentially a race against time. Herd immunity means a less co-operative social environment for onward transmission of the virus, and this redounds to everyone's benefit. With the emergence of new variants there will be a corresponding need for further booster shots, and ongoing vaccine hesitancy can prove to be traumatic for the nation.
Unfortunately, some people are holding out for what seems to be American-brand vaccines, opting to decline what is on offer. Vaccination is not the same as shopping online where you have the luxury of choosing. To those who say they feel the vaccines are being imposed on them, I ask them how different is that from stepping out on your 25th floor hotel balcony and finding that the balcony rails are an imposition on your freedom of movement.
As such, the need to consider a mandatory vaccine policy is pertinent, though it is not a novel idea. The medical form to be submitted by applicants to UWI states that certain vaccines are mandatory to all students, and in some cases it is also mandatory to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B (three doses), chicken pox and rabies. A visa application to the High Commission of India requires proof of yellow fever vaccination. And we all know that to enter primary school, all students must be suitably vaccinated. So why the rage when employers are insisting on something similar?
A basic duty of all employers is to provide a safe place and system of work for employees. This, in essence, means that natural risks and dangers within the workplace must be eliminated or minimised in order to ensure the safety of all workers.
Risks and dangers may vary. For example, there might be a risk of falling from heights, or inhalation of fumes, risk of physical injury from machinery. And, perhaps in a class by itself, is the risk to one's very life itself. To minimise the risk of death from the pandemic, justifiably or not, economies across the world have gone into slumber mode, constitutional rights of people have been severely impacted, states of emergencies have been called, the education industry worldwide has experienced severe disruptions in the delivery of curricula, and the airline industry has been effectively grounded for the better part of these last two years. And we have the gall to question why employers are insisting on vaccinations?
It would seem naïve, pretentious or downright deceptive for people to suggest that the virus is not a direct threat to li
