LETTER: SA needs vaccine mandates

The government and its Covid advisory council need to understand that there’s only so much you can do to save people from themselves.

Any form of hard lockdown at this stage cannot be viable. The political situation in SA is already at a tipping point, and any further economic fallout will add to an already tenuous state of affairs. Yet this may not deter the government from implementing further lockdown measures ahead of a Covid fourth wave.

But does the government have a moral obligation to save people who do not want to be saved? It has reached the point where vaccine supply is exceeding demand, yet the uptake still isn’t great enough.

Unfortunately, SA is largely being held back from its herd immunity target by the dubious choices of individuals. If people are too obstinate (or lazy) to get vaccinated, why should those of us who chose vaccination be punished with a hard lockdown?

Despite controversies that may arise from the introduction of vaccine mandates, to push an already fragile economy back into lockdown would surely be more controversial? If it comes down to a choice between the two, the government needs to grow a spine and introduce mandates, and encourage private businesses to do the same.

Michael McLaggan
Sandton

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