By Kabelo Mollo
This week so vaccination become widely available here in the Kingdom. Thanks to a number of different donations from international organizations and the private sector, even from local business people who clubbed together in order for the populace to try fight our way to the much sought after herd immunity.
You’ll notice the glaring mission in terms of who didn’t contribute to Basotho getting vaccines, but it’d be unkind of me to leave it as is. Our ministry of health has done very well in leveraging a number of relationships and getting us to this point. I must admit, I was worried for a while that getting our shots would be pie in the sky until yet another wave came with a new variant, but no, “we are within” as Ms Matheba will have us believe.
During the course of the week I was in a space that was as informative as it was dynamic. For those unaware “Twitter Spaces” is a social media innovation. The idea being that twitter users can login and listen to any number of interesting conversations hosted by any users. On this occasion the conversation related to whether or not people should get jabbed. It was interesting because there were no doctors nor epidemiologists in the conversation, yet, the information flowing was worthwhile and eye opening.
Lately the conversation has turned from the so-called “anti-vaxxers” or those refusing to take the vaccine, to the people who are just unsure about whether or not to take it. As in, they don’t have a principled aversion to the vaccine, but require more information before they decide whether to get it or not. The host of the conversation Lebo Quinn was very good in directing the conversation towards an open and honest end.
Myself and a few other pro -vaxxers spoke passionately about the importance of vaccination. My points were that herd immunity is vital in our quest to defeat this beast and return to normality. I maintain that not getting the vaccine is abdicating your responsibility to the rest of the society. You’re saying someone else should protect you from the new and different variants.
A few of the views expressed by those not so keen to get the vaccine included the idea that they’re being forced to get vaccinated because they’re going to be denied services in some places. To this I say, well and good, as a person you’re exercising your right to decline the vaccine. What goes on to your body really is your business, and you have every right to determine that, but as my father has pointed out to me over the course of my lifetime, my rights finish “at the end of my nose”. My rights, can’t impact nor supersede somebody else’s.
So, business owners who choose not to serve those who aren’t vaccinated are simply exercising their rights in return. The right of admission has always been reserved for the proprietor of the business. Nightclub revellers will know this all too well. Indeed, the only rights we have inherently in terms of services are those provided by the government, because as taxpayers we’ve pre paid for them. That said, even the government has the right to protect its workers, so if they decide those who aren’t vaccinated can’t get their services done physically as the risk the lives of their staff then so be it. Alternative means must be found. If it sounds like you could become a pariah by deciding not to vaccinate, then perhaps that is, as Newton stated “the equal and opposite reaction” to your own action.
I have been careful not to sound preachy or become forceful in my trying to coax people to get vaccinated. It’s a slippery slope between urging people to do what you believe is right, and imposing your beliefs on people who are entitled, and must have their own. So, I don’t want to seem sanctimonious in this column, but I do definitely want to urge those who haven’t yet to go and get their shot, so that we can attain here immunity, and we can get back to the business of living! As I said last week, I’ve got a new baby, and I cannot wait to show him a “normal” world with theme parks, and movies and all the rest of the things he deserves to experience. If it feels like I’m laying it on thick, I am!
Many on social media have complained about the after effects of having got vaccinated, even for this I have a response. I’m no medical doctor, so the primary response has to be do as advised by medical health professionals. That said Sankatana fortified yoghurt developed by Liselo Labs is an absolute Godsend. Boost your recover with that good stuff, but ultimately, do your bit, and get vaxxed!
