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Are vaccines mandatory, asks think tank citing health DG’s criteria for travel ban

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Center for Market Education urges Putrajaya to clarify Dr Noor Hisham’s statement on reopening of state, district borders only after 70% of population are vaccinated.

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Free Malaysia Today
Think tank says continued travel restrictions would lead to the collapse of the tourism industry. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:
A think tank has called for the government to clarify whether Covid-19 vaccines are compulsory or otherwise, pointing to contradictory statements from government leaders.

The Center for Market Education (CME) noted that science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said the national Covid-19 immunisation programme would be a voluntary exercise.

But it said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s statement that the ban on interstate and inter-district travel may only be lifted after 70% of the population had been vaccinated implied that the vaccines were mandatory.

“If Malaysians cannot even think about interdistrict travel without mass vaccination, this means that vaccination becomes hiddenly compulsory,” it said in a statement today.

“CME hopes that the importance of freedom of choice will be re-stated, together with the need for policy-making to shift back to the hands of elected and accountable politicians.”

It urged Khairy to clarify if the 70% vaccination target was really part of the government’s criteria for reopening district and state borders, adding that Noor Hisham’s remarks made it harder for individuals and businesses to make informed decisions.

It also warned that such a policy would lead to the collapse of the tourism industry before state borders are opened, reminding that economic sectors are interrelated with one another.

“The collapse of one industry has repercussions on the rest of the economic activities.”

CME said leaving investors to “wait-and-see” would restrict the implementation of long-term business strategies, which would then negatively affect employment and the nation’s economic recovery.

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