The vaccine hesitancy rate in recent months has been as high as 32 per cent. The reason it went so high was due to bungled, conflicting messaging from the federal government and some state health officials.
The lingering effect of this means Prime Minister Scott Morrison is unlikely to lead Australia to an 80 per cent vaccination rate any time soon.
For those of us desperate to connect again with the outside world, it may be a long wait.
More to the point, for segments of the economy reliant on overseas student income, or for the tourism industry, waiting until we get to 80 per cent is a death blow.
The only way to get to something approaching normality is to mandate vaccinations when they become available. I don’t mean we should hold people down and force them to be vaccinated.
We should effectively mandate the jab by socially excluding those that refuse.
They would not be allowed to eat in restaurants, go to the theatre, go to the footy, travel overseas or have people around to their house.
In short, vaccination refusers will remain in a state of perpetual lockdown.
READ MORE: All you need to know about the jab by Dr Marinis Pirpiris
“No jab, no job”
Beyond this, we should consider the lead taken by some US companies that are mandating vaccination for their employees.
Tyson Foods and Microsoft have done just that. Employees must be vaccinated, and no one can enter their premises without it. It amounts to a “no jab no job” policy.
The government should provide similar powers to employers in Australia. It should not rule out mandating vaccinations for all public servants either, when there is adequate vaccine supply.
This all might seem harsh. But as we now know, being vaccinated does not mean you cannot spread the virus. If it is spread among the vaccinated it is likely they will not get seriously ill, but the unvaccinated will, with increased costs to our health system.
Incentives for the jab
Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese has proposed a $300 incentive for people who get the jab by December 1 – including for those already vaccinated – at a cost of $6 billion. Based on overseas experience such incentives have limited success and Labor may finish up being accused of vote buying.
\In a veiled criticism of federal Labor’s plan, Premier Daniel Andrews has pointed out that our immediate problem is vaccine availability not vaccine hesitancy.
If Victoria were to flag tough sanctions for the refusers when supply is available, along the lines outlined above, vaccination rates would increase much more than via financial incentives.
Morrison has floated the idea of COVID passports for the vaccinated, but given that many of the freedoms like overseas travel or freedom from lockdowns don’t occur until we reach 80 per cent, what is the point? It’s another publicity stunt.
Tough mandated sanctions work but there would be push back from civil libertarians concerned about individual freedoms.
The father of modern liberalism, John Stuart Mill, posited the principle that in a liberal democracy we should be free to do what we like so long as we do not harm others. People may refuse vaccination, but by doing so they are much more likely to transmit the virus and cause harm to others.
READ MORE: Australia’s aged care workers to receive mandatory jab from mid-September
I remember the debates about how compulsory seatbelt wearing was an assault on personal freedom. Most now accept that by making it compulsory we have enhanced, not diminished, our freedom to travel safely.
Or take compulsory voting. Many would argue that our democracy and our freedom, relative to, say, the United States, is enhanced not diminished by having it. You can still choose not to vote in Australia, but you will be punished (fined) for not accepting your public responsibility to do so.
We already sanction parents who refuse to vaccinate their children with “no jab no pay” and “no jab no play” policies that deny them government benefits. Why not exclude the vaccine refusers from settings that can cause harm to others?
The French example
French President Emmanuel Macron has shown the sort of leadership that Morrison seems incapable of. He promised to make life miserable for those who refuse to be vaccinated and vaccination rates immediately shot up. Macron does not see the problem as one of getting vaccination rates up to some magic 70 per cent or 80 per cent figure. He sees it as separating responsible vaccinated citizens from recalcitrants. Only the latter will have their freedom restricted.
The French are clear that what might appear as constraints on personal freedom are justified if they enhance the overall freedom or democratic fundamentals of society. It’s the reason they ban overt personal religious symbols such as the burqa or large crosses to protect their secular free democracy.
Morrison is no Macron.
He avoids tough decisions like effectively mandating the jab for thousands of federal public servants, or allowing overseas travel to green-designated countries by the vaccinated,
in favour of a sales pitch or emotional appeals.
Our democracy is in large measure based on the axioms of ancient Athens, which linked democratic freedom to public responsibility. When you apply this axiom and the harm-to-others principle, it’s clear that mandating vaccinations for those who refuse to fulfil their public responsibility will increase freedom while protecting the unvaccinated.
Albanese should announce a mandate-based policy that applies sanctions to those who refuse vaccinations when available.
And if Albo and ScoMo won’t do what is obviously necessary, we might have to turn to Dan.
Theo Theophanous is a Commentator and Former Victorian Government Minister.