Does it count as discrimination if you decide not to get vaccinated, but you are not allowed to go to the cinema?
Ever since the first vaccine received the authorisation for use, the issue of wanting it or rejecting it has been on the table. Especially when protective measures needed to be introduced, and countries were forced only to allow certain activities and places to be visited for those inoculated.
Last year, when the pandemic hit, and there was no vaccine yet, everyone considered it the holy grail that would solve the situation in a heartbeat. Since then, other questions arose.
Many people are against being vaccinated, which divides societies.
Especially when there is a need for measures to be introduced to protect citizens. Measures that can be seen from two standpoints.
You either say that they grant advantages to those who have received their shots, or the opposite: those who refuse to be vaccinated are deprived of their rights to go where they want to go.
Let it be a restaurant, a cinema, or a hotel.
Many Hungarians would rather say the latter, in the form of an angry Facebook comment. Most of them complain about the situation of those who “did not have money for the idiotic tests and they really do not want to be vaccinated, so they should just f**king die at home”.
Some even draw similarities between deciding to not getting vaccinated and being LGBTQ.
They say that people in both situations are subject to discrimination.
Is this actually true? A Hungarian citizen not receiving the vaccine by his choice suffers the same discrimination as an LGBTQ person or someone of ethnicity?
Discrimination is the systematic exclusion and humiliation of a group, occasionally involving physical force, intending to gain or maintain rule or dominance. That is why we talk about discrimination when people suffer it based on their skin colour, culture, or sexual orientation. This negative discrimination comes together with unfairness, inequality, and oppression.
Based on this definition,
imposing certain restrictions on those who decide not to get vaccinated is not considered discrimination.
Being against the vaccine can be perceived as an identity; nevertheless, it is something the person chooses voluntarily, not something he was born with or would be unable to change.
When looking at the medical importance and the whole of society, those without the vaccine contribute much more to the spread of the virus, writes 24.hu. It is without mentioning that they are much more likely to suffer a more prolonged and more painful illness when they get infected.
Finally, comparing this situation of not being able to go out for a while to the violent things that happen to people of colour, for instance, on a daily basis, is simply cynical.
Hungary is not the only country where the idea of these measures and the use of an immunity certificate in everyday activities, like the cinema or a restaurant, is considered. In Italy, they enter into effect this weekend, while Germany also mentioned the possibility.
Looking at the issue
from a legal point of view, if the discrimination in question has a reasonable motive, which is to put an end to the spread of the virus, it is not against the law.
Since the aim is the protection of people and communities and those who can not protect themselves.
Vaccination made obligatory for healthcare workers in Hungary from September 1
Still, making vaccination obligatory does not seem the right decision.
Some are not even able to receive it because of health issues. Others are afraid of the secondary effects, and they do not consider it safe. Certain people believe that they would not get infected anyway. And some people simply do not agree with the government’s measures.
People should not be forced to be vaccinated but provided the necessary information to see that these measures are not directed against them or harm them, but towards a greater good: to get rid of this pandemic as soon as possible.
Read alsoScandalous! Hungarian GP gave immunity certificates for 139 EUR — VIDEO
