MALAYSIA'S vaccination exercise will continue well into 2022. So not all of us will be vaccinated in the coming weeks. Or months. The potions can't come fast enough.
Some people who have yet to be vaccinated, or don't want a jab, are concerned that they will end up becoming a different sort of victim of the pandemic.
By this, I mean, these folks believe they will not be treated the same way as persons who have been inoculated.
Here are hypothetical situations. People apply for a job or walk into a restaurant or go to a seaside resort, but are told they are not welcome because they do not have vaccination against Covid-19.
Could this really happen?
In the Philippines, the Associated Labour Unions says workers are told they will be reassigned or relocated if they shun sponsored immunisation programmes. It seems some employees will be asked to show proof they have been inoculated as a precondition for work, Philstar.com reports.
In Europe, the European Commission intends to give out a 'Digital Green Pass' to those who have been vaccinated. This is apparently to facilitate travel.
The DW portal says one issue that arises from this is discrimination. It points to an argument by the German Ethics Council that "a vaccine pass could exacerbate structural disadvantages and lead to social stigmatisation, especially in work environments".
Doubtless this is a growing and gnawing issue.
So, what should we do in Malaysia? People may not be vaccinated for a number of reasons, not merely because they do not have confidence in the vaccines. That we know very well.
We may have to address this question soon, not only because we want to reopen our borders and save the tourism and aviation sectors. But also because discriminating against our own citizens is unpalatable.
Why, it would just be like making a conscious choice to turn away ill people from hospitals. That would be so wrong.
If one were to argue that it is perfectly all right to keep unvaccinated folks apart because "it is their fault, it's their own doing", then let us take it further. Any smoker who has lung cancer shall not be allowed into shops, too.
Why? "Well, his habit got him to death's door. Now he is draining state resources to care for him, to attempt to make him well again. We should punish him for his stubbornness".
That's an absurd argument. An immoral stand.
As our immunisation programme steadily continues, let's be careful not to become a different sort of victim of the pandemic. By this, I mean letting our moral compass be destroyed.
The writer is NST production editor