HEALTH Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is being a bully with his statement that the government will make life harder for the unvaccinated, the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) said.

Its secretary-general J. Solomon said Khairy’s statement is akin to the government resorting to gangsterism on its citizens.

“Khairy’s statement on Saturday that ‘the government may not make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory, but those who refuse to be vaccinated will face a difficult life’ is outright bullying of citizens who choose not to get vaccinated.

“NUBE protests such outright discrimination, bullying and exploiting the dignity of citizens who do not want to be vaccinated.

“Whether vaccinated or not, one can still be infected and infect others. Hence, countries like Singapore and Israel have even revoked their original policy of vaccine passports for travel as they realised that there is no epidemiological value, with the number of infections rising sharply among those who are jabbed,” he said.

On Saturday, Khairy said the government will “continue to make life difficult” for individuals who refuse to get the Covid-19 jab.

“Sorry to say, if you are not vaccinated because you choose not to be vaccinated, then we will make life very difficult for you and continue to make life difficult for you.

“Cannot dine at restaurants, cannot go into shopping centres, and we will be releasing a national testing strategy next week… then we will probably ask you to take regular tests, for which you have to pay. The message is to get vaccinated,” he said.

Solomon said Khairy cannot bully his way into forcing consent by discriminating and ostracising the unvaccinated, as well as by labelling them “anti-vaxxers”.

He added that those who do not wish to be vaccinated have various reasons for their decision.

“Some refuse due to medical reasons, some due to fear of risks. Others wish to depend on their own natural immunity while many are sceptical because the vaccines were developed too fast without adhering to development protocols,” he said.

Solomon urged Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to advise his minister to respect the rights of the people and focus on eradicating the virus.

“Focus instead on eradicating Covid-19 with standard operating procedure that is critical to curb the spread of the virus irrespective of whether vaccinated or not, provide effective medical assistance, facilities and explore the treatments that have been claimed successful by some governments for the wellbeing of the people,” said Solomon.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had also slammed Khairy for his forceful approach on Malaysians who refuse vaccination.

According to Anwar, the government should instead raise awareness about the advantages and benefits of being vaccinated among those who refuse.

“We answer with our point, they provide a scientific paper and then we bring a stronger scientific argument to break theirs,” Anwar said.

Ismail, on the other hand, said the government has no intention of causing hardship to the people and the problems being faced by those who are against the Covid-19 vaccine are due to their own attitude.

He said Covid-19 vaccination, although not made mandatory yet, helps make life easier for the people.

“We have a responsibility to help protect others by reducing the risk of infection and reducing the severity of the disease, if infected, by taking the vaccine,” the prime minister added.

Khairy, too, has said those not getting the vaccine for medical and health reasons will not face problems as they will have an exemption document from the ministry. – October 18, 2021.