It’s already clear that large sections of the South African public are reluctant to have the Covid-19 vaccine – but, in order to achieve herd immunity, around 40 million will need to be injected.
Is there a case for making the Covid-19 vaccine mandatory? The World Health Organisation has indicated that it’s not in favour of the notion. But it’s a question which has been debated in countries all over the world, as vaccine-hesitancy is by no means limited to South Africa.
Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled in December 2020 that local governments could introduce measures for compulsory Covid-19 vaccination. What this means in practice is not that citizens can be held down and forcibly injected, but that they may be stripped of certain rights – like entering certain places, or receiving certain funds – if they do not comply with vaccination.