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B RILLIA NT- ON LIN E SEP TEM B ER 2021
A TALE OF TWO CITIZENS IN A PANDEMIC WORLD ✦ To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?
T
hat, indeed, is the question as we slowly adjust to a new normal lifestyle that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about. Countries are at differing stages of managing the pandemic and its disruption to society, but the one unifying factor is the importance of vaccination against the virus. However, this is nowhere near as straight forward as it may initially appear and how exactly the vaccine debate is likely to impact us as a global population remains to be seen. It is still early days but the general trend from governments around the world is an impatient desire to have their citizens vaccinated as quickly as possible so a semblance of normality can return. Put simply,
if you are not vaccinated then there could be a whole host of challenges awaiting you. This article does not seek to analyse the ethics of choice per se, of one’s right to opt for or against the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s another debate for an altogether different day. Instead it strives to peek behind the curtain being drawn by governments around the world who are introducing an increasing number of conditions and restrictions which are and will continue to shape the everyday lives of the vaccinated and unvaccinated members of our societies.
‘Us and them’ One thing that is clearly evident early on is that a divide has, and continues to be, created between those who
have been vaccinated and those who have not. It is very much creating an “us and them” mentality which could, in time, become troublesome.
So what will the divisive world of the vaccinated and the nonvaccinated actually look like? The answer is, simply, it is still too early to say with any degree of accuracy and one can only speculate at this stage. However, the early indication is that societies will become even more disrupted, divisive and controlled than before, perhaps worryingly so for some. Being required to produce documentation in order to be allowed to carry out duties and tasks that we previously took for granted such as
