Calvin Cheng: Time to mandate vaccination for seniors, with criminal penalties for those who refuse

Singapore — On Friday morning (Nov 5), former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng commented in a Facebook post on the recent surge of cases in Europe, which may be “back at the epicenter of the pandemic,” according to the Europe head of the World Health Organization.

Fifty-nine per cent of new Covid-19 infections around the globe last week, as well as almost half of all Covid-related deaths, were in Europe.

Mr Cheng pointed out that “a pandemic of the unvaccinated is again starting to put stress on hospitals” in Europe, and added that in Singapore, it is also the unvaccinated that are responsible for the majority of serious Covid cases, specifically unvaccinated senior citizens.

“In Singapore, 67% of the serious cases come from 1.5% of the population… Another 15-20% come from unvaccinated people below 60.”

He also noted that there are seniors who have been vaccinated who “will unfortunately still die,” adding, “there is a lot of overlap between this group and those that would die of pneumonia in any given year.”

Mr Cheng argued that since vaccination would “relieve a lot of the stress on global hospitals,” then “Countries all over the world have to put a lot more pressure on the unvaccinated. Make life very uncomfortable for them.”

“In Singapore, our challenge is these unvaccinated seniors,” wrote the ex-NMP. “We want to be kind. We don’t want to trap them at home, as it will cause them all sorts of mental problems. But society cannot be held hostage by them.”

He also wrote that in spite of efforts to persuade them to the extent of sending mobile vaccination units to their homes, 70,000 seniors are still unvaccinated.

Mr Chen called for Covid vaccinations to be made mandatory for senior citizens, “with criminal penalties for those who refuse.”

As for those who are younger, he said that if stricter measures, “including threatening their jobs” do not prove to be effective, then “criminal sanctions for them” should be imposed as well, except in cases where a person’s medical conditions exempt them from the vaccines.

“Vaccines do not completely stop infections, but they prevent health systems from being overwhelmed. Punish and ostracise the unvaccinated. The rest of us need to live,” he wrote.

Last month, a report in The Age, a newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, alleged that some 100,000 Singaporean senior citizens who are holding out and refusing to get vaccinated are to blame for the country’s “stalled” recovery from Covid-19.

Chris Barnett, the South-east Asia correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, wrote, “Now, though, after setting the standard in the region with its COVID-19 immunisation drive, vaccine hesitancy is playing a key role in holding Singapore back,” he wrote, adding, “A significant number of unvaccinated seniors just won’t get the jab.” /TISG

Read also: Singapore recovery stalled by 100k seniors who won’t get jabs —Australian newspaper

Singapore recovery stalled by 100k seniors who won’t get jabs —Australian newspaper