By now, everyone must have heard that the Covid-19 vaccination is voluntary in Singapore. It was only fair that we got a choice when it came to taking care of our health.
While this was great and all, as a pessimist, it felt too good to be true.
Well, as it turns out, I was right.
Lawrence Wong, the Education Minister, has announced that those who choose not to get vaccinated will not have their vaccine reserved as it will get rolled out for others in the line.
Realistically, this statement is fair. If you don’t want it, then someone else can have it. I’m fine with it, totally logical.
However, it was his later statement that stands out as a red flag.
He proceeds on to say that if Singaporeans choose to wait; then they must accept the consequence that a ready supply of Covid-19 vaccinations may not be available.
Well, I don’t know about you, but that sure feels a damn threat to force us to get in line for the ‘greater good’. So perhaps the choice was an illusion after all; this feels like the TraceTogether situation all over again.
We already know that the Government is purchasing enough vaccines to cover everyone, and even if they have to push out vaccines that are rejected by people; there should still be enough for the rest down the line.
So where exactly are the rejected vaccines going to go then? Is it going to be sold off to the highest bidder or something?
And I’m not the only Singaporean who feels this way.
I initially had no qualms with taking the vaccine, although I was curious first to find out more about it before putting it into myself.
However, after this little arm twisting stunt, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be bothered to follow the herd out of fear.