Retired Constitutional Court justice Edwin Cameron, revered for his gay rights and antiretroviral activism, says “hard-core anti-vaxxers in South Africa are similar to the Aids denialists”.
Speaking at an online event on Covid-19 and human rights organised by Daily Maverick, he said just like Aids denialists, anti-vaxxers push theories that there is “no virus”, or that it is “not significant”, or that life-saving drugs are “toxic”.
“That is, of course, all rubbish,” said Cameron, endorsing the views of fellow panellist Prof Salim Abdool Karim, head of Aids research centre Caprisa at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), who said mandatory vaccination should go ahead in many sectors.
Abdool Karim said: “We have several settings that carry a particularly high risk where I believe vaccines need to be made mandatory.”
A “huge externality” that transcended personal choice is particularly apparent in healthcare settings, he said, “because everyone in that setting, from a cleaner to a nurse to a doctor, is interacting with the most vulnerable in our society and we cannot place the most vulnerable at such high risk”.
Abdool Karim acknowledged the argument that mandatory vaccines “challenge bodily integrity”, but said “your right to that is not absolute — it has to be viewed in relation to the challenges that it poses for the highly vulnerable at-risk individuals in our society”.
He said a healthcare worker who refused a vaccine should find or be moved to a “low-risk job or agree to get tested once or twice a week at their own cost”.
The mandate should not come from the government, but within institutions and professions, said Abdool Karim.
Cameron added: “I want to endorse what Slim is saying, but I want to take it further and say make it law.
“The law is a teacher, it is a norm that embodies a standard, and when we say let’s make vaccines compulsory, we are not talking about armed people going from door to door with jabs. No. It’s about creating a legal norm.
“We are not saying: ‘Let’s go to hard-core denialists and put their arms in vices and jab them.’ We are saying use the law as a medium of instruction and guidance and encouragement.”
He compared the situation with what happened with seat belts. “It took people time to understand,” he said.
“You have a right to spill your brains on the windscreen, but what about the cost to public health when you have to be taken for emergency care? That is why seat belts were made mandatory and now all people accept that the police can fine you for not wearing one.”
Abdool Karim said it should be mandatory in any “congregate settings”, but Cameron said “I would go further and make it the norm, backed up by the law”.
Examples of settings where people interact in high numbers indoors included prisons, schools, restaurants and home affairs offices, said Abdool Karim.
“You can make a list of professions or work environments that meet those kinds of criteria and there is good justification for mandatory vaccines in those contexts,” he said.
But what about people who refuse to get the jab, then end up very sick in hospital?
Cameron said: “The Hippocratic oath means we can’t deny them access to medical care. We have to offer those services, even to those who don’t act in their own best interests.”
Abdool Karim said: “We shouldn’t deny access to medical care for those who didn’t get vaccinated, but there is indeed a good case to be made: they are consuming a disproportionate amount of medical resources because it is very costly to manage severe cases of Covid-19, especially if you go all the way to ICU. You are basically eating up the money that goes into vaccinating a whole city against measles.”
Those who can afford it should be “forced to cover a part of the cost” of their medical treatment, he said.
Another component is the role of the unvaccinated in bringing new and highly dangerous variants into the picture.
“Both testing and vaccinating are critical elements in our battle against Covid-19 because the future of the pandemic lies in the creation of new variants,” said Abdool Karim.
“Every unvaccinated person is running a higher risk of creating those new variants, so it’s not just about the individual. The Delta variant probably emerged in one person and is now all over the world.
“You are not an island and we cannot allow a situation where one person’s choice puts the broader public at risk.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.